B    3    SflO 


TREES 


trric .  -  Forestry.  Main  Library 


LIBERTY  TREE  OF  ANNAPOLIS 

Photo  by  K.  S.  Nicholson 


HISTORIC 
AMERICAN    TREES 


By 
KATHARINE   STANLEY  NICHOLSON 

\  V 

Photographs  by  the  Author  and  Others 


NEW  YORK 
FRYE    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 

15  WEST  107th    STREET 


5 


Copyright,  1922,  by 
KATHARINE    STANLEY    NICHOLSON 


Agric.- Forestry.  Main  Library 


DEDICATED 

by  permission 

to 

•Hmurabl*  William  OL  &prmil 

Governor  of  Pennsylvania 
As  A  Slight  Token  of  Appreciation  of 
His  Splendid 'Service 
In  Forest  Conservation 


COPY 

THE  GOVERNOR'S  LETTER 


EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT 

HARRISBURG 
^Obemor  December  16,  1920 


MISS  KATHARINE  STANLEY  NICHOLSON 

22  South  Eighteenth  Street 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Dear  Friend: 

Your  gracious  note  of  the  ijth  is  at  hand.  Of  course,  1  should  greatly  appreciate 
such  an  honor  as  the  dedication  of  your  book  to  me,  and  I  only  wish  that  I  might  have 
the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  I  really  deserved  such  a  distinction. 

I  am  greatly  interested  in  what  you  are  planning  and  I  trust  that  your  work  will 
be  eminently  successful. 

With  appreciation  and  kind  regards,  I  am, 

Sincerely  yoursf 

(Signed)    WM.    C.    SPROUL 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

I.        Oaks 11 

II.         Oaks 16 

III.         Oaks 21 

IV.        Poplars  26 

V.         Poplars — Sycamores 31 

VI.         The  Penn  Treaty  Elm 38 

VII.        Elms   42 

VIII.         Elms   44 

IX.         Sugar  Maples 52 

X.         Memorial  Trees 56 

XI.         Willows — Inwood  Tulip  Tree — Stockton  Catalpas 
— Hamilton's  Trees — Treaty  Tree  of  Gross 

He 62 

XII.        Cypress — Yews   67 

XIII.         Pines 

XIV.         Pines — Sequoias 77 

XV.         Nut  Trees 81 

XVI.         Nut  Trees— Indian  Trail  Trees 86 

XVII.         Mulberries 90 

XVIII.         Pears— The  Traveling  Nursery 96 

XIX.         Apples  . '. 101 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Indian  Trail  Tree Front  Cover 

Liberty  Tree  of  Annapolis Frontispiece 

Salem  Oak FACING  PAGE  1 1 

Largest  Oak  in  Pennsylvania 21 

Sycamore  and  Lafayette's  Headquarters 31 

Pringle  Sycamore 35 

Penn  Treaty  Elm 38 

Frye  Elm 47 

Roosevelt  Sugar  Maple 56 

Napoleon  Willows   62 

Whittier  Pines 

Sequoia 

Daniel  Boone's  Bar  Tree 

Black  Walnut  of  Stony  Point  . 81 

Mulberry  Walk 90 

Box  Hedge  of  Count  Du  Barry , 90 

4 


FOREWORD 

"Old  Trees  in  their  living  state,  are  treasures  that  money  cannot 
buy,"  wrote  Walter  Savage  Landor. 

Treasures,  indeed,  though  too  seldom  appreciated!  Intimately 
associated  as  they  are  in  many  instances  with  our  National  life  as  well 
as  with  local  events,  much  of  the  history  of  America  is  written  in  the 
story  of  her  trees,  living  or  otherwise,  and  can  be  traced  through  a 
study  of  the  part  they  have  played  in  connection  with  its  development. 
Living  Links  in  the  chain  of  human  interests  that  spans  the  centuries, 
such  trees  possess  a  unique  historic  value,  and  should  be  carefully 
preserved. 

During  the  preparation  of  this  volume,  gratifying  proof  of  the 
widespread  interest  in  our  subject  has  been  received  by  the  writer. 
From  many  quarters  have  come  helpful  suggestions  and  valuable 
material,  and  for  this  kind  assistance  she  wishes  here,  to  make  grate- 
ful acknowledgment  to  the  various  historical  societies  throughout  the 
country,  also  to  the  following  individuals  and  books : 

Mr.  James  F.  Sullivan,  Mrs.  Margaret  M.  Halvey,  Managing 
Editor  of  The  Starry  Cross;  Mrs.  Frederick  Winslow  Taylor,  Mr. 
Fred  Shelton,  Philadelphia;  Dr.  John  W.  Harshberger,  University 
of  Pennsylvania;  Mrs.  M.  E.  T.  Chapin,  Miss  Sophia  K.  Seabury, 
Miss  Alma  Dunbar,  Mrs.  E.  P.  Gardner,  Miss  E.  Frye  Barker,  Miss 
Nettie  Hustis,  Mr.  Stewart  H.  Burnham,  Mr.  William  Markham, 
New  York  State;  Mr.  Harold  Rugg,  Dartmouth  College,  New 
Hampshire;  Mr.  Carl  Bannwart,  Supt.  Shade  Tree  Commission, 
Newark,  N.  J. ;  Mr.  Ransom  Kennicott,  Forester,  Cook  County  For- 
est Preserve,  111.;  Miss  Delia  Harris  Maddox,  Baltimore,  Maryland; 
Mr.  Lucien  Lamar  Knight,  State  Historian  of  Georgia;  Mr.  J.  C. 
McWhorter,  of  West  Virginia;  Dr.  John  H.  Schaffner,  Ohio  State 
University;  Mr.  A.  C.  Dart,  of  North  Carolina;  Senator  George  P. 
Morehouse,  of  Kansas;  Mr.  Robert  G.  Sproul,  Secretary,  Save  the 
Redwoods  League,  California;  Mr.  George  Himes,  of  Oregon;  Mr. 
William  E.  Foster  of  Rhode  Island,  and  others  who  have  generously 
contributed  information  that  has  proved  most  useful  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  book. 

American  Scenic  and  Historic  Preservation  Society,  Annual 
Reports. 

American  Forestry  Magazine,  1918-1921. 
"Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  by  John  F.  Watson. 

"Border  Settlers  of  Northwestern  Virginia,"  by  L.  V. 
McWhorter. 


Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Smithsonian  Institute,  Bulle- 
tin 30. 

"Brief  History  of  South  Dakota,"  by  Doane  Robinson,  Secre- 
tary, State  Historical  Society  of  South  Dakota. 

"Centennial   Biographical   History  of  Richland  and   Ashland 
Counties,  Ohio,"  by  A.  J.  Baughman. 

"Chronicles  of  Colonial  Maryland,"  by  James  Walter  Thomas. 

"Daniel  Boone,"  by  John  S.  C  Abbott. 

"Daniel  Boone,"  by  Lucille  Gulliver. 

"First  Founders  in  America,"  by  William  Howard  Fitch,  M.D. 

"Georgia's  Landmarks,  Memorials  and  Legends,"  by  Lucian 
Lamar  Knight. 

"Guide  to  Annapolis,"  by  William  O.  Stevens  and  Carroll  S. 
Alden. 

"Historic  Highway  of  America,"  by  Archer  Butler  Hulbert. 

"History  of  Dutchess  County,  New  York,"  edited  by  Frank 
Hasbrouck. 

"History  of  the  Great  Republic,"  by  H.  A.  Guerber. 

"History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,"  by  Silas  Farmer. 

"History  of  Indiana,"  by  Wm.  Henry  Smith. 

"History  and  Stories  of  Nebraska,"  by  A.  E.  Sheldon. 

"Historic    Trees    of    Massachusetts,"    by    James    Raymond 
Simmons. 

"Hoosac  Valley,  (The),"  by  Grace  Greylock  Niles. 

Indiana  Arbor  and  Bird  Day  Annual. 

Journal  of  the  New  York  Botanic  Garden. 

"Legends  of  Trees  and  Flowers,"  by  Charles  Skinner. 

"Lives  of  Famous  Indian  Chiefs,"  by  Norman  B.  Wood. 

"Marking  the  Santa  Fe  Trail,"  by  Mrs.  T.  A.  Cordry. 

Memoirs  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 

"Memorials  of  John  Bartram  and  Humphrey  Marshall,"  by  Wil- 
liam Darlington,  M.D.,  L.L.D. 

"Memorials  of  a  Half  Century,"  by  Bela  Hubbard. 

Minnesota  Historical  Society  Historical  Collections. 

Michigan  Pioneer  and  Historical  Society,  Vols.  XIV  and  XXII. 

National  Geographical  Magazine. 

Ohio  Archaeological  and  Historical  Publications,  Vol.  XXII. 

Ohio  Archaeological  and  Historical  Quarterly. 

Proceedings  of  the  Delaware  County  Institute  of  Science. 

"Reminiscences    of    Famous    Georgians,"    by    Lucien    Lamar 
Knight.. 

6 


"Review  of  Facts  and  Observations  Made  by  Naturalists,  Botan- 
ists, Historians  and  Travelers,  on  the  Properties  and  Productions  of 
the  Sugar  Maple  Tree,"  by  E.  Jones,  published  in  London,  in  1832. 

"Roger  Williams,"  by  Oscar  S.  Strauss. 

"Secret  of  the  Big  Trees,  The"  by  Ellsworth  Huntington,  Ph.D., 
F.R.G.S.,  Harpers'  Magazine. 

"Storming  of  Stony  Point,"  by  Henry  P.  Johnston,  M.A. 
"Story  of  Tennessee,"  by  James  Phelan. 

"White  Doe  (The) ;  the  Fate  of  Virginia  Dare,"  by  Sallie  South- 
hall  Gotten. 

Wisconsin  Archaeologist,  Vol.  XV. 

"With  the  Flowers  and  Trees  in  California,"  by  Charles  Francis 
Saunders. 

Zoological  Society  Bulletin,  September,  1919. 
THE  AUTHOR 


HISTORIC 
AMERICAN    TREES 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Wi-ten-a-ge-mot  Oak — The  Charter  Oak — The  Pelham  Oak — 
The  Fox  Oaks— The  Salem  Oak— The  Wadsworth  Oak— The 
Rappite  Oak. 

THE  Wi-TEN-A-GE-MoT  OAK 

This  veteran  oak  is  still  standing  on  the  ancient  Indian  Council 
Ground  at  Schagticoke,  N.  Y.  It  is  in  the  rear  of  the  old  Knicker- 
bocker Mansion  where  Washington  Irving  was  a  frequent  visitor  and 
where  he  discovered  the  original  of  his  famous  character,  Dietrich 
Knickerbocker. 

Nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  at  the  close  of  King 
Philip's  War,  Governor  Andros,  of  New  York,  planted  the  oak,  the 
only  Tree  of  Welfare  ever  dedicated  to  the  Indians. 

In  1676,  Governor  Andros  formed  a  Board  of  Indian  Commis- 
sioners, at  Albany,  and,  able  diplomat  that  he  was,  set  about  prevent- 
ing the  exodus  to  Canada  of  discontented  Indians  from  the  Hudson 
River  and  Hoosac  Valley  and  influencing  them  to  stay  in  their  own 
country.  It  was  during  this  visit  to  Albany  that  he  planted  the  Tree 
of  Peace  at  Schagticoke,  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  friend- 
ship between  the  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  Indians,  and  between  the 
Militia  at  Fort  Albany  and  the  River  Indian  scouts ;  and  in  honor  of 
the  occasion,  called  a  meeting  of  the  conference  known  as  The  Wi-ten- 
a-ge-mot  or  Assemblage  of  the  Wise,  named  after  the  National 
Assembly  of  early  Saxon  times  prior  to  the  Norman  Conquest.  About 
one  thousand  warriors,  representatives  of  the  Iroquois,  Hoosacs, 
Pequots,  Narragansetts,  Pennacooks,  Delawares,  Mohawks  and  other 
nations  obeyed  the  summons  to  the  conference. 

Governor  Andros  and  his  staff,  the  royal  militia  in  their  brilliant 
uniforms,  the  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners,  judges  and  clergymen 
completed  the  gathering.  Two  Dutch  pastors  of  Albany  and  two 
Jesuit  Priests  of  the  Mohawk  Missions  offered  prayer  while  the 
Calumet  or  pipe  of  peace  was  solemnly  passed  around,  whites  as  well 
as  red  men  smoking  it  in  turn,  to  seal  their  compact  of  good  will. 

Belts  of  wampum  embroidered  with  the  Swastika  were  given  by 
the  Indians  to  their  white  friends,  and  the  Governor  presented  the 
River  Indian  Scouts  with  tobacco,  pipes  and  uniforms.  Three  of  the 
Chiefs  broke  their  bow-strings  and  buried  the  hatchet  at  the  foot  of  the 
newly  planted  oak.  Soquon,  the  orator  of  the  Hoosacs,  announced 
that  the  blood  had  been  cleansed  from  the  blade  of  the  hatchet  just 
buried,  and  that  the  warriors  would  henceforth  dance  in  peace  beneath 
the  Tree  of  Welfare. 

The  ceremony  and  the  compact  of  friendship,  symbolized  by  the 
planting  of  the  tiny  oak,  were  long  and  lovingly  remembered  by  the 

11 


Indian  naticr^  slid  they  held  the  Tree  of  Peace  in  deep  regard.  Those 
Indians  living  oh  the  east  shore  of  the  Hudson  told  Governor  Belle- 
mont,  of  New  York,  about  the  event  as  follows:  "It  is  now  six  and 
twenty  years  since  we  were  almost  dead  when  we  left  New  England 
and  were  first  received  into  this  government;  then  it  was  that  a  tree 
was  planted  at  Shakkook,  whose  branches  is  spread  so  that  there  is  a 
comfortable  shade  under  the  leaves  of  it;  we  are  unanimously  resolved 
to  live  and  die  under  the  shadow  of  that  Tree,  and  pray  our  Father  to 
nourish  and  have  a  favorable  aspect  towards  that  Tree,  for  you  need 
not  apprehend  that  tho*  any  of  our  people  go  out  a  hunting,  they 
will  look  out  for  another  country,  since  they  like  that  place  called 
Shakkook  so  well." 

Having  promised  a  Council  Tree  to  the  Mohawk  Scouts  also, 
Governor  Andros  planted  it,  probably  in  1676,  on  the  shore  of  the 
Tomhamac  River,  but  it  did  not  fare  as  well  as  the  Wi-ten-a-ge-mot 
Oak,  being  injured  by  lightning.  "Our  neighbors,  the  Mohawks, 
have  not  been  so  fortunate,"  said  Soquon  to  the  Governor,  "for  their 
tree  burnt.  We  have  been  so  happy  and  fortunate  that  our  number 
is  increased  to  that  degree  that  we  cannot  all  be  shaded  by  one  tree, 
and,  therefore,  desire  that  another  tree  besides  that  at  Schagticoke 
may  be  planted  for  us." 

The  Wi-ten-a-ge-mot  Oak  is  now  in  its  third  century  of  life,  its 
circumference  measures  twenty-two  feet,  and  its  shade  covers  an  acre. 
But  it  shows  unmistakable  signs  of  decay,  and  unless  this  can  be 
arrested,  it  will  not  be  many  years  before  one  of  the  most  historic 
trees  of  the  continent  will  have  vanished. 

THE  CHARTER  OAK 

The  first  settlers  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  found  there  a  white  oak,  tall 
and  spreading,  already  full  of  years — its  age  even  then  being  esti- 
mated at  several  centuries — that  was  a  valued  land  mark  of  the 
Indians.  They  begged  the  pioneers  to  spare  the  ancient  oak  while 
clearing  the  forest  growth,  saying,  "It  has  been  the  guide  of  our  an- 
cestors for  hundreds  of  years,  as  to  the  time  of  planting  our  corn, 
when  the  leaves  are  the  size  of  a  mouse's  ears,  then  is  the  time  to  put 
the  seed  into  the  ground."  Granting  the  Indians'  request  to  leave 
the  ancient  oak  untouched,  the  white  men  builded  better  than  they 
knew,  for  in  a  few  years  it  had  rendered  them  a  service  of  great  worth. 

In  1687,  Governor  Andros,  whom  King  James  had  appointed 
Governor  of  all  New  England,  attended  a  session  of  the  Colonial 
Assembly  at  Hartford,  and  demanded  its  charter.  In  an  instant,  the 
lights  in  the  hall  were  extinguished,  and  relit,  but  the  historic  docu- 
ment had  vanished  from  the  table  where  it  lay.  Captain  Wadsworth 
had  carried  it  away  and  concealed  it  in  the  old  oak's  hollow  trunk. 

Strangely  enough,  King  Charles  II,  who  had  granted  the  charter, 
had  himself  been  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the  trunk  of  an  oak,  eleven 
years  previous,  after  the  battle  of  Worcester,  England.  Later,  his 

12 


friend,  Dr.  Halley,  the  astronomer,  christened  a  constellation  in  the 
heavens,  "Robur  Caroli"  (Charles'  Oak),  in  memory  of  the  event. 

Shortly  after  his  demand  for  the  charter,  Governor  Andros  was 
recalled,  and  English  courts  having  decided  that,  as  Hartford  had 
never  relinquished  its  charter,  it  was  still  in  force,  the  precious  parch- 
ment was  brought  to  light  again,  and  the  colonial  government  was 
continued  under  its  provisions. 

Through  another  century  and  a  half  the  Charter  Oak  remained, 
loved  and  venerated  by  many  admirers,  and  when  in  1856,  a  heavy 
storm  laid  it  low,  "the  bells  of  the  city  were  tolled,  and  a  band  of 
music  played  funeral  dirges  over  its  ruins." 

THE  PELHAM  OAK 

In  1654,  Thomas  Pell,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  bought  property  north 
of  the  Harlem  River,  "embracing  all  that  tract  of  land  called  West- 
chester,"  in  what  is  now  New  York  State.  Beneath  the  shade  of  a 
large  white  oak,  which  has  ever  since  been  called  by  his  name,  the  deed 
was  signed  by  the  Indian  Chiefs  Manninepol,  Annhook,  and  five  other 
Sachems  from  whom  he  purchased  the  land  for  "two  guns,  two  kettles, 
two  coats,  two  adzes,  2  shirts,  one  barrel  of  cider  and  6  bits  of  money" ; 
the  value  of  the  payment  is  estimated  to  have  amounted  to  eight 
pounds,  four  shillings  and  six  pence. 

Nine  days  before  the  transaction,  a  meeting  of  the  Director  Gen- 
eral and  Council  of  New  Netherlands  had  taken  place,  and  it  had 
been  resolved  to  forbid  the  English  settling  on  any  soil  which,  the 
Government  claimed  had  been  "long  before  bought  and  paid  for," 
and  to  order  them  "to  proceed  no  farther,  but  to  abandon  that  spot." 

Pell,  being  one  of  the  chief  offenders,  it  was  reported  by  the 
attorney  of  the  New  Netherlands,  that  he  had  "dared  against  the 
rights  and  usages  of  Christian  countries  to  pretend  that  he  bought 
these  lands  of  the  natives,"  and  that  he  was  making  a  settlement  there. 
He  continued  to  hold  the  land,  however,  ignoring  all  objections,  and 
when  at  length  the  Dutch  surrendered,  in  .1664,  became  its  undis- 
puted owner.  In  1666,  Governor  Nicholls,  of  New  York,  confirmed  a 
large  part  of  PelFs  grant,  and  "erected  a  township  or  manor;  the 
proprietor  rendering  and  paying  in  fealty  therefor  yearly,  unto  his 
Royal  Highness,  James,  Duke  of  York,  or  to  such  governor  as  should, 
from  time  to  time  be  by  him  appointed,  as  an  acknowledgment,  one 
lamb  upon  the  first  day  of  May,  (the  feast  of  S.  S.  Philip  and 
James)." 

For  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  old  oak  had  been 
famed  as  the  landmark  where  the  beginnings  of  historic  Pelham 
Manor  were  made.  It  is  said  to  have  stood  on  the  Post  Road,  between 
Pelham  Bridge  and  the  entrance  to  the  Bartow  place.  About  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  south  of  the  bridge,  is  an  oak  stump, 
surrounded  by  an  iron  railing,  believed  by  many  to  be  the  remains 
of  the  treaty  tree.  According  to  the  report  of  the  American  Scienic 


13 


and  Historic  Preservation  Society,  however,  this  is  incorrect,  and 
nothing  now  is  left  of  the  fine  old  oak  but  the  record  of  its  fame. 

THE  Fox  OAKS 

In  1661,  John  Bowne,  a  noted  man  of  his  time,  built  his  house  in 
Flushing,  N.  Y.  He  was  "so  zealous  a  Quaker  that  he  was  exiled 
to  Holland  by  Governor  Stuyvesant,  for  his  adherence  to  the  sect,  and 
did  not  return  home  for  two  years." 

Opposite  his  home  stood  two  immense  oaks,  under  whose  shade 
George  Fox,  Founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  preached  to  the 
Indians  in  1672.  Under  the  same  trees,  Friends  were  accustomed  to 
hold  their  meetings,  when  the  crowds  became  too  large  to  be  accom- 
modated in  Mr.  Bowne's  house.  One  of  the  Fox  Oaks,  as  the  old 
trees  were  named  in  honor  of  the  distinguished  preachers,  lived  till 
1841,  the  other  surviving  a  few  years  longer.  They  were  estimated 
to  be  about  five  hundred  years  of  age. 

THE  SALEM  OAK 

Another  tree  long  associated  with  the  Society  of  Friends  is  the 
fine  old  oak  at  Salem,  N.  J.  When  the  land  on  which  it  stands  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  Society,  in  1680,  the  tree  was  comparatively 
young  and  slender  though  perhaps  not  even  then  in  its  first  youth. 
It  is  believed  to  be  between  three  and  four  hundred  years  of  age, 
possibly  much  older ;  one  of  its  largest  branches  fell  in  a  severe  storm 
in  the  autumn  of  1920,  and  showed  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
rings  of  annual  growth.  The  old  oak  shades  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen feet  of  ground  in  the  Friends  Cemetery,  and  looks  the  part  of  a 
noble  monarch  of  the  primeval  forest.  One  can  fancy  it  rich  in 
memories  of  long-past  but  stirring  times,  for  it  has  watched  over  the 
development  of  the  town  of  Salem  from  its  birth,  as  from  time  to 
time  the  little  community  has  borne  its  part  in  the  storm  and  stress 
of  history. 

The  old  oak  bids  fair  to  be  one  of  the  longest-lived  of  American 
trees,  for  when  signs  of  decay  become  evident,  the  aid  of  tree  surgeons 
has  been  promptly  enlisted  to  strengthen  and  preserve  it  intact. 

THE  WADSWORTH  OAK 

Th  Wadsworth  Oak,  or  Big  Tree,  on  the  Genesee  River,  at 
Genesee,  N.  Y.,  was  long  a  tree  of  note.  It  was  a  swamp  white  oak, 
its  leaves  turning  a  dull  yellow  in  autumn,  instead  of  the  rich  fed 
tint  of  those  of  the  white  oak.  Measuring  twenty-seven  feet  in  cir- 
cumference, it  was  venerated  on  account  of  its  size,  and  the  Seneca 
Indians  named  the  surrounding  country  Big  Tree,  in  its  honor.  Near 
it,  in  1797,  a  treaty  was  made  between  Robert  Morris  and  the  Senecas, 
by  which  they  conveyed  to  him  the  greater  part  of  their  territory. 

14 


In  1851,  the  Big  Tree  came  to  its  end  in  a  heavy  freshet  which 
washed  away  the  river  bank.  A  piece  of  its  trunk  was  placed  on 
the  Letchworth  estate,  in  the  neighborhood,  near  an  old  Indian  Coun- 
cil House,  which  had  been  moved  there  to  be  kept  as  a  valuable  relic, 
after  it  had  been  abandoned  by  its  former  owners  of  the  Senecas 
tribe. 

THE  RAPPITE  OAK 

In  1815,  George  Rapp,  a  native  of  Wurtemburg,  Germany,  pur- 
chased 30,000  acres  in  Posey  Co.,  Ind.,  near  the  confluence  of  the 
Wabash  and  Ohio  Rivers,  and  founded  the  community  of  New  Har- 
mony. The  little  settlement  was  governed  by  the  principles  of  the 
New  Testament  as  he  understood  them,  and  was  modelled  after  his 
former  one  in  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  night  of  their  arrival  at  their  new  home,  the  colonists  slept 
under  the  shade  of  a  large  tree,  which  became  known  as  the  Rappite 
Oak.  Near  it,  their  leader  built  his  house,  connecting  it  by  an  under- 
ground passage  with  the  fort.  Traces  of  the  quaint  old  settlement 
still  remain,  in  the  odd  little  houses,  none  of  which  boasted  a  front 
door,  and  one  wing  of  the  large  church  built  in  the  form  of  a  Greek 
cross. 

During  long  years  the  historic  rights  of  the  old  oak  were 
respected  by  later  residents  in  the  old  home,  and  though  showing  the 
approach  of  age,  it  was  left  standing.  In  1900,  a  summer  storm  laid 
it  low,  "after  about  ninety  years  of  experience  in  song  and  story." 


15 


CHAPTER  II 

The  De  Soto  Oak — The  Catholic  Oak — The  Wesley  Oak — Teach's  Oak — Two 
Royal  Oaks — Whipping  Tree  at  Peekskill — Two  Oaks  that  Own  Them- 
selves— Indian  Oak. 

THE  DE  SOTO  OAK 

Both  history  and  legend  have  given  fame  to  the  handsome, 
spreading  oak  upon  the  grounds  of  the  Tampa  Bay  Hotel,  Fla., 
whose  branches  shade  an  area  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 

In  1539,  Ferdinand  De  Soto,  whose  name  the  tree  bears,  became 
Governor  of  Florida.  He  was  very  fond  of  resting  beneath  the  oak, 
and  is  believed  to  have  made  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  under  its  shade. 
More  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  during  the  Spanish- 
American  War,  General  Nelson  A.  Miles  made  his  headquarters 
beneath  the  venerable  tree. 

THE  CATHOLIC  OAK 

In  1635,  the  Rev.  William  Blackstone,  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England,  moved  from  Boston  to  what  is  now  the  village 
of  Lonsdale,  R.  I.,  and  is  remembered  as  the  first  white  man  to  settle 
in  that  State.  Close  by  his  grave,  near  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Mill 
Streets,  Lonsdale,  stands  the  immense  oak,  its  trunk  measuring 
twenty-seven  feet  at  the  ground-level,  which  he  mentions  in  his  writ- 
ings as  being  in  its  prime  in  his  day. 

The  old  oak  has  a  singular  history.  In  1843,  the  Rev.  James 
Cook  Richmond,  a  missionary  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  passing  on 
his  way  to  preach  at  a  neighboring  town,  paused  under  its  branches, 
exclaiming,  "What  a  beautiful  tree  that  is !  I  think  I  will  hold  services 
here  next  Sunday."  As  if  to  form  a  natural  pulpit,  two  large  roots 
on  one  side  of  the  tree  enclosed  a  hollow,  where  he  stood  while  con- 
ducting the  services  that  soon  became  immensely  popular.  The  first 
one  was  held  on  Whit  Sunday,  June  4,  1843,  when  Mr.  Richmond 
christened  the  tree  the  "Catholic  Oak,"  evidently  using  the  adjective 
in  its  broadest  sense  as  signifying  "universal,"  since  the  services  were 
intended  for  all,  irrespective  of  creed. 

Crowds  attended  his  first  open  air  service  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  this  country,  it  having  been  estimated  that  there  were  more 
than  six  hundred  persons  present,  many  of  whom  never  attended 
church,  but  were  doubtless  attracted  by  the  novelty  of  the  proceeding. 

After  preaching  beneath  the  oak  for  several  months,  Mr.  Rich- 
mond was  sent  to  another  field,  but  returned  every  year,  to  hold 
service  under  the  tree  on  Whitsunday.  About  the  year  1847,  he  went 
again  to  Europe,  taking  with  him  an  acorn  from  his  beloved  oak,  and 
planting  it  in  England  where  it  has  grown  and  flourished. 

16 


An  iron  railing  has  been  placed  around  the  Catholic  Oak,  at 
Lonsdale,  with  a  tablet  commemorating  the  history  of  the  famous  land- 
mark which  may  yet  remain  through  another  generation. 

THE  WESLEY  OAK 

On  St.  Simon's  Island,  Ga.,  less  than  half  a  mile  from  the  ruins 
of  Fort  Frederica,  stands  a  gnarled  and  ancient  live  oak,  under  whose 
wide-spread  branches  tradition  says  that  the  Wesleys  preached,  the 
pioneers  of  Methodism  in  this  country. 

The  old  tree  is  a  memento  of  events  enacted  near  it,  of  far  more 
stirring  character.  Numbering  its  years  at  not  less  than  two  hundred, 
probably  many  more,  its  growth  was  contemporary  with  the  earliest 
history  of  English  colonists  in  Georgia;  with  the  landing  on  her  coast 
of  the  good  ship  Anne,  which  brought  General  James  Edward  Ogle- 
thorpe,  "the  most  illustrious  Englishman  to  cross  the  sea  during  the 
period  of  American  colonization,"  when  he  came  with  his  followers  to 
establish  in  the  New  World  a  refuge  for  the  debtors  of  England ;  and 
with  his  valiant  conquest  of  the  French  and  Spanish  invaders  who 
threatened  the  rights  and  liberties  of  English  settlers  in  America. 

"From  the  outstretched  limbs  of  the  old  oak,"  says  Mr.  Lucien 
Lamar  Knight,  the  historian,  "trail  the  pendant  mosses,  giving  it  an 
appearance  of  great  solemnity  and  beauty,  and  making  it  the  pictur- 
esque embodiment  of  the  austere  memories  which  cluster  about  the 
sacred  spot."  Two  hundred  feet  in  height,  it  stands  at  the  gate  of  the 
churchyard  of  Christ  Church,  on  whose  parish-register  are  the  names 
of  some  of  the  earliest  settlers  on  the  island,  and  under  its  broad  shade 
sleep  many  generations. 

The  tree  is  on  the  direct  road  to  Fort  Prederica,  built  in  1735, 
by  General  Oglethorpe,  as  a  defence  against  Spanish  power,  and 
named  for  Frederic,  Prince  of  Wales. 

TEACHES  OAK 

The  old  tree,  which  stands  on  a  little  peninsula  in  a  creek  tribu- 
tary to  the  Neuse  River,  at  Oriental,  N.  C.,  was  a  prominent  figure  in 
the  early  history  of  the  State.  Long  before  civilization  had  placed 
a  lighthouse  or  other  means  of  guidance  on  those  shores,  the  big  oak 
served  to  point  the  way  for  many  a  mariner. 

It  is  associated  with  the  pirate  Edward  Teach,  a  daring  and 
troublesome  character  of  those  early  days.  Because  of  his  thick,  black 
whiskers,  he  went  by  the  name  of  Blackbeard.  He  was  an  English- 
man, and  in  his  youth  a  sailor  under  a  pirate  captain  named  Korna- 
gold,  and  proved  himself  an  apt  pupil.  In  1718,  he  was  given 
command  of  a  ship  captured  by  his  master,  and  set  sail  for  American 
waters. 

The  coasts  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  were  Teach's  special 
hunting-ground.  It  is  said  that  when  pursued  by  larger  vessels  which 

17 


could  not  follow  him  into  shallow  water,  he  took  refuge  in  Albemarle 
and  Pamlico  sounds.  The  old  oak  was  the  favorite  rendezvous  of  him- 
self and  his  crew,  and  large  holes  were  later  dug  around  its  foot,  in 
fruitless  efforts  to  discover  the  treasure  he  was  known  to  have  amassed 
and  supposed  to  have  concealed  there. 

When  the  English  king,  hopeless  of  controlling  the  lawless  rovers 
who  terrorized  sailors  far  and  near,  offered  a  pardon  to  all  of  them 
who  would  surrender  and  live  as  peaceable  citizens,  Teach  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunity.  He  soon  tired  of  the  monotony,  however, 
and  started  out  again,  a  menace  to  all  he  met.  At  length.  Governor 
Spottswood,  of  Virginia,  brought  matters  to  a  head  by  dispatching 
Lieutenant  Maynard  in  search  of  him.  After  a  sharp  fight,  Teach 
was  killed,  and  his  head  was  fastened  to  the  bowsprit  of  Maynard's 
ship,  as  a  trophy.  Tradition  has  it  that  the  headless  body  swam 
round  Ocracoke  Island  nearby,  in  quest  of  the  pirate  crew  and  their 
vessel. 

Two  ROYAL  OAKS 

Two  American  trees  have  each  borne  the  title  of  Royal  Oak.  One 
of  them,  whose  fame  is  perpetuated  in  the  village  of  that  name,  near 
the  spot  where  it  stood,  in  the  vicinity  of  Easton,  Md.,  had  grown  to 
such  a  size  that  it  was  supposed  to  have  been  standing  before  the  dis- 
covery of  the  New  World.  Soldiers  who  fought  in  the  Revolution 
were  drilled  under  its  branches,  but  its  name  originated  in  an  occur- 
rence of  the  War  of  1812. 

During  that  struggle,  a  British  ship  came  to  anchor  opposite  the 
town  of  St.  Michaels,  Talbot  County,  Md.,  a  few  miles  from  the 
veteran  oak,  and  opened  fire. 

The  inhabitants,  who  were  unprotected,  resorted  to  a  bit  of 
strategy  that  proved  highly  effective.  Hanging  lighted  lanterns  in 
the  tops  of  the  high  trees,  they  deceived  the  enemy  into  mistaking  them 
for  the  lights  of  the  town,  with  the  satisfactory  result  that  their  shots 
passed  harmlessly  overhead. 

For  a  long  time,  two  cannon  balls  said  to  be  of  "local  fame" 
were  suspended  from  the  limbs  of  the  Royal  Oak,  and  after  its  fall 
in  1864,  they  were  placed  on  a  locust  post  nearby. 

A  white  oak  bearing  the  same  distinguished  name,  stood  on  a 
plain  northeast  of  the  Indian  trail  leading  from  Detroit  to  the  village 
of  Pontiac,  Mich.,  and  the  township  of  Royal  Oak  of  that  neighbor- 
hood is  named  in  its  honor.  The  reason  for  its  august  title  seems, 
however,  decidedly  obscure,  as  its  associations  are  chiefly  with  doings 
of  the  red  men.  There  is  a  tradition  that,  beneath  it,  an  unfriendly 
meeting  occurred,  Chief  Pontiac  and  representatives  of  another  tribe 
being  the  interested  parties.  As  late  as  1825,  the  scars  of  arrows, 
tomahawks  and  bullets  were  said  to  be  visible  in  its  wood.  It  figured, 
also,  as  a  boundary  tree,  when,  in  1819  Governor  Case  laid  out  a  road 
"from  Woodward  Avenue,  Detroit,  to  the  end  of  the  road  built  by 

18 


the  United  States  troops,  then  west  to  a  large  oak  marked  H,  near 
Indian  trail,  then  west  to  Main  Street  in  Pontiac  Village,  then  to  the 
end  of  Main  Street." 

WHIPPING  TREE  AT  PEEKSKILL 

An  oak  of  old-time  associations,  that  is  still  flourishing,  is  the 
"Whipping  Tree"  at  Peekskill,  N.  Y.  Beneath  it,  strenuous  correc- 
tion was  administered  in  Revoluntionary  times  to  deserters  from  the 
American  cause.  The  tree  is  situated  in  a  wide  field  adjoining  the 
grounds  of  the  Van  Cortland  Manor-House,  Washington's  headquar- 
ters when  he  was  in  Peekskill.  Here  Lafayette,  Rochambeau,  Baron 
Von  Steuben  and  other  famous  soldiers  were  entertained.  Pierre 
Van  Cortland,  the  owner,  was  Lieutenant- Governor  from  1777  to 
1795,  and  acting-Marshal  of  the  Equestrian  Provincial  Congress, 
which  Congress  was  more  than  once  obliged  to  hold  its  sessions  on 
horseback,  and  legislate  to  meet  emergencies.  He  also  served  as 
President  of  the  Convention  that  was  responsible  for  the  new  Federal 
constitution  of  1781. 

Two  OAKS  THAT  OWN  THEMSELVES 

A  fine  old  oak,  near  the  town  of  Athens,  Ga.,  fell  heir,  about  a 
century  ago,  to  sufficient  land  to  protect  it  from  invasion  as  long  as 
Nature  shall  permit  it  to  stand.  In  the  Town  Clerk's  office  is  recorded 
the  deed  dated  in  1820,  by  which  its  owner,  the  Hon.  W.  H.  Jackson, 
"for  and  in  consideration  of  the  great  affection  which  he  bears  said 
tree,  and  his  desire  to  see  it  protected,  has  conveyed  and  by  these 
presents  does  convey  unto  the  said  tree  entire  possession  of  itself,  and 
'the  land  within  eight  feet  of  it  on  all  sides."  Thus  insured  against  any 
encroachment  upon  its  rights,  the  old  oak  flourishes,  today,  its  age 
exceeding  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  is  a  tree  of  noble  propor- 
tions. On  a  tablet  under  its  branches  is  inscribed  a  quotation  from  the 
deed.  By  virtue  of  being  the  first  tree  distinguished  as  a  landowner  it 
seems  fully  entitled  to  rank  as  historic. 

An  oak  of  California,  that  is  claimed  to  rival  in  size  the  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker  oak  at  Chico  in  the  same  State,  is  fortunate  in  having 
been  liberally  provided  for  by  Mr.  A.  E.  Wiltse,  of  New  York  City, 
who  has  set  apart  forty  acres  surrounding  the  tree,  in  order  that  it  may 
be  preserved  for  generations.  The  oak  has  a  circumference  of  thirty- 
one  feet,  and  shades  a  radius  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  Its  age 
is  estimated  at  from  six  hundred  to  seven  hundred  years. 

INDIAN  OAK 

Maple  Hill,  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  the  beautiful  estate  where  Lafayette 
was  entertained  in  1825,  possesses  seven  acres  of  ancient  forest  trees 
known  as  Sylvan  Grove.  One  of  these  trees,  called  Indian  Oak,  was  a 
favorite  meeting  place  of  Chief  Red  Jacket  and  his  companions. 

19 


This  noted  chief,  "the  Indian  Demosthenes,"  was  of  the  Seneca 
tribe,  and  was  the  greatest  orator  of  the  Six  Nations. 

He  was  a  young  man  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  was 
often  employed  by  the  British  officers  as  a  messenger  or  "runner." 
Both  on  account  of  his  great  physical  endurance  and  his  eloquence, 
he  was  able  to  be  of  great  service  to  them.  In  return,  the  officers  pre- 
sented him  with  a  handsomely  embroidered  scarlet  jacket  which  he 
wore  with  great  pride ;  and  during  the  war  they  kept  him  supplied  with 
similar  coats.  This  costume  earned  for  him  the  title  which  clung  to 
him  through  life.  After  the  close  of  the  war,  the  Americans  were 
accustomed  to  present  him  with  a  red  jacket  whenever  they  wished 
to  please  him. 

The  Indian  Oak  is  no  longer  standing,  but  a  granite  rock  has 
been  placed  on  the  site  where  it  grew,  a  temporary  stone  of  remem- 
brance, until  a  permanent  monument  shall  mark  the  historic  spot. 


20 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Eartram  Oaks— Corner  Oaks—"Struck-by-the-Ree's  Tree"— 
Washington  Oak—Red  Oak  at  Chesterfield—Council  Oak  of  the 
Santa  Fe  Trail. 

THE  BARTRAM  OAKS 

In  the  southwestern  section  of  Philadelphia,  Perm.,  on  the  bank 
of  the  Schuylkill,  stands  a  quaint  old  house,  built  in  1731,  by  John 
Bartram,  "The  Father  of  American  Botany."  Surrounding  it,  and 
covering  from  six  to  seven  acres,  lies  the  famous  garden  which  he 
cultivated  through  half  a  century ;  a  garden  which,  during  his  lifetime 
was  a  favorite  resort  of  Washington,  Franklin  and  other  men  of  note, 
and  which  has  survived  to  our  own  days  as  a  city  park  and  a  centre  of 
interest  to  nature-lovers. 

Many  unusual  and  interesting  trees  and  shrubs  collected  by 
Bartram  during  his  travels  through  the  then  unknown  region  of  the 
eastern  and  southern  portions  of  the  United  States,  or  sent  to  him  by 
friends  at  home  and  abroad,  found  their  way  into  the  garden  and  a 
number  have  survived  to  our  own  day.  One  of  the  most  noticeable 
of  these  trees,  the  heterophyllus  oak,  so-called  because  bearing  leaves 
of  various  shapes,  still  stands  guard  just  south  of  the  old  house. 

An  oak  of  this  description,  one  whose  leaves  did  not  all  follow 
the  same  pattern,  was  of  course  a  novelty,  and  Peter  Collinson,  a  dis- 
tingushed  naturalist  of  London,  to  whom  Bartram  was  in  the  habit 
of  sending  boxes  of  botanical  specimens,  evidently  felt  somewhat 
slighted  at  receiving  no  seeds  of  such  an  unusual  tree.  On  March  5, 
1770,  he  wrote  to  Bartram  about  it  as  follows:  "Pray  what  is  the 
reason  I  have  no  acorns  from  that  particular  species  of  oak  that 
Doctor  Mitchell  found  in  thy  meadow"?  Adding  the  Latin  name, 
"Quercus  heterophyllus,"  so  that  there  would  be  no  doubt  to  what 
he  referred. 

He  also  had  requested,  many  years  previous,  acorns  of  the  Wil- 
low-leaved Oak  and  of  the  White  and  Swamp  Spanish  Oak,  all  of 
them  familiar  to  John  Bartram  in  his  travels  in  American  wilds.  Per- 
haps Collinson  voiced  his  impatience  at  the  length  of  time  that  elapsed 
before  these  treasures  reached  him,  for  there  is  a  letter  of  Bartram's 
in  reply,  written  in  May,  1738,  which  says: 

"Indeed,  I  was  more  than  two  weeks  time  in  gathering  the  small 
acrons  of  the  Willow-leaved  Oak,  which  are  very  scarce,  and  falling 
with  the  leaves, — so  that  daily  I  had  to  rake  up  the  leaves  and 
shake  the  acorns  out,  before  they  were  devoured  by  the  squirrels  and 
hogs ;  and  I  reckoned  it  good  luck  if  I  could  gather  twenty  under  one 
tree — and  hardly  one  in  twenty  bore  any." 

21 


A  few  miles  distant  from  Bartram's  Garden,  in  the  old  village  of 
Darby,  now  within  the  boundaries  of  Philadelphia,  lies  the  Bartram 
farm  where  in  1699,  the  future  botanist  was  born,  the  son  of  an 
English  Quaker  who  had  followed  the  fortunes  of  William  Penn  to 
the  New  World.  Near  the  spot  was  a  great  oak,  in  later  days  rated 
as  the  largest  oak  in  the  State,  and  estimated  at  the  time  of  its  down- 
fall in  1910,  to  be  seven  hundred  years  old.  It  was  reported  as  an 
unusual  tree  by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  various  Forestry 
Associations.  After  the  old  oak  had  fallen,  it  was  found  to  be  made 
up  of  two  trees  grown  together. 

Its  historic  value  lies  in  the  appropriate  association  "of  the  first 
oak  of  Pennsylvania  with  the  first  botanist  of  that  State  and  of 
America." 

CORNER  OAKS 

At  the  foot  of  Marlin's  Mountain,  Marlinton,  W.  Va.,  a  cluster 
of  old  trees  known  as  "Corner  Oaks"  have  long  been  associated  with 
the  memory  of  General  Andrew  Lewis,  the  hero  of  Point  Pleasant. 
General  Lewis  volunteered  his  services  in  the  expedition  to  take 
possession  of  the  Ohio  country  in  1754. 

At  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Kanawha  River,  he  acted  as  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  American 
troops,  and  gained  a  signal  victory  over  the  Indians  of  the  Shawnee 
Confederacy  under  the  celebrated  Chief  Cornstalk.  This  battle  was 
noted  as  being  the  most  severe  conflict  with  the  red  men  up  to  that 
time.  General  Lewis  was  also  Washington's  military  trainer,  and  the 
latter  endeavored  to  have  him  appointed  Commander-in- Chief  of 
the  Armies  of  the  Revolution. 

Corner  Oaks  bear  the  following  inscription: 

"General  Andrew  Lewis,  Oct.  6,  1751. 

"STRUCK-BY-THE-REE'S  TREE 

At  Yankton,  S.  D.,  stood  until  a  few  years  ago,  an  oak  known  to 
the  first  settlers  there  as  "Struck-by-the-Ree's  Tree."  Beside  com- 
memorating a  savage  encounter  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Ree 
Indians,  it  had  also  been  used  by  the  former  tribe  as  a  burial  tree. 

The  Sioux  Chief  who  bore  the  title  "Struck-by-the-Ree,"  was 
born  in  the  late  summer  of  1804,  at  the  time  when  Lewis  and  Clark, 
captains  of  the  famous  expedition  to  explore  the  far  west,  were  en- 
camped on  Green  Island,  in  the  Missouri  River,  near  the  present 
site  of  Yankton.  The  Yankton  tribe  of  the  Sioux  Indians  met  with 
them  there,  and  together  they  held  "a  grand  council,  powwow  and 
carousal." 

One  day,  Captain  Lewis  heard  that  a  papoose  had  just  been  born 
in  one  of  the  Indian  lodges.  Sending  for  the  child  he  wrapped  him 
in  the  American  flag,  prophesying  that  the  boy  would  become  a  leader 
of  his  people,  and  a  good  friend  of  the  white  men.  His  prediction  was 
fulfilled,  for  Struck-by-the-Ree  not  only  became  a  chief  of  his  tribe, 

22 


but  proud  of  having  been  wrapped  in  the  flag  at  birth,  always  ranked 
himself  as  a  partisan  of  the  white  men,  and  saved  many  of  them  from 
torture  or  death  in  the  Yankton  massacre  of  1863. 

Struck-by-the-Ree,  grown  to  young  manhood,  fell  deeply  in  love 
with  a  beautiful  Indian  girl.  Together  they  often  sat  beneath  the 
oak,  talking  happily  of  their  future,  when  one  day  the  terrible  war- 
whoop  of  the  Rees  was  heard,  and  a  fierce  battle  followed.  It  was 
during  this  encounter  that  the  young  warrior  received  the  wound  that 
earned  for  him  his  odd  title,  though  not  until  after  he  had  suffered  a 
greater  misfortune.  * 

"A  youthful  form  was  seen 

To  hover  at  his  side 

Wherever  in  the  dawn 

The  Chief  could  be  descried. 

Our  warrior's  horse  was  killed 

At  breaking  of  the  day. 

On  foot  he  fought,  the  youth 

But  one  arm's  length  away. 

When  from  a  thicket  near 
An  arrow — fiendish  dart — 
Was  sent  from  sinew  string 
Straight  at  my  lover's  heart. 
The  youth  like  lightning  sprang 
From  beneath  a  bending  tree, 
Receiving  deep  in  the  breast 
The  arrow  of  the  Ree. 

Thou  hast  saved  my  life,  brave  youth 
Thy  breast  hath  been  my  shield; 
The  Sioux  are  saved  a  Chief 
Upon  this  bloody  field. 
Thy  name! — Speak  quickly! — Alas! 
My  Love!    O  maiden  mine! 
The  arrow  for  my  heart 
Hath  entered  into  thine!" 

There  was  only  time  to  carry  the  dying  girl  away  from  the  field, 
and  return,  himself,  to  the  battle  where  he  was  soon  severely  wounded 
by  another  dart  from  the  Rees.  But  summoning  all  his  strength 
he  led  the  charge  again,  while  the  word  passed  from  one  to  another 
that  he  was  risen  from  the  dead.  An  overwhelming  victory  for  the 
Sioux  was  the  result. 

Struck-by-the-Ree  recovered  from  his  wound,  and  lived  for  a 
number  of  years,  returning  often  to  the  old  oak,  to  sit  under  its  shade 
and  mourn  his  lost  love. 

WASHINGTON  OAK 

During  the  summer  of  1791,  Washington  traveled  extensively 
through  the  south,  and  was  one  morning  entertained  at  breakfast  by 
a  lady,  who  lived  in  the  suburbs  of  Charleston,  S.  C.  Chancing  to 
hear  her  order  the  gardener  to  cut  down  a  splendid  oak  because 
it  obstructed  the  view  from  the  new  portico,  he  interceded  for  the 
tree,  which  was  spared  at  his  request  and  which  has  ever  since  borne 
his  name. 


From  poem  "The  Old  Oak  Tree,"  by  Benjamin  Wade  Borleigh. 

23 


RED  OAK  AT  CHESTERFIELD 

A  stalwart  oak  at  Chesterfield,  S.  C.,  described  as  unchanged 
since  1852,  bore  its  part  in  the  Civil  War.  To  its  branches  was  fast- 
ened the  first  flag  bearing  the  words  "Immediate  Separate  State 
Action."  There  the  flag  fluttered  in  the  breeze  until  General  Sher- 
man arrived  on  the  scene,  and  burned  the  jail  and  courthouse.  The 
tree  had  long  been  a  favorite  resting  place  for  Indians,  whose  pipes 
and  arrowheads  were  found  beneath  it. 

COUNCIL  OAK  OF  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL 

This  old  tree  is  one  of  the  few  that  remain,  of  the  original  Council 
Grove,  on  the  Neosho  River,  Kan.,  which  was  "the  largest  body  of 
timber  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
the  most  noted  camping  and  gathering  place  on  the  old  Santa  Fe 
trail." 

This  famous  trail  was  the  "early  highway  over  which  the  com- 
merce of  the  Plains  was  carried  on  for  more  than  a  generation  before 
the  whistle  of  a  locomotive  had  broken  the  stillness  of  the  prairies." 
It  was  first  used  by  white  traders  in  1822,  when  a  caravan  started 
from  Boonville,  Mo.,  and  passing  through  Lexington,  Independence 
and  Westport  (now  Kansas  City),  traveled  south  across  the  State  of 
Kansas  and  on  to  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  over  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  miles  of  forest  and  prairies  infested  by  Indians. 

Two  years  later,  in  1824,  trade  with  Santa  Fe  had  increased  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  United  States  Government  began  to  show 
an  active  interest  in  carrying  it  forward.  The  regular  route  along  the 
Trail  began  at  Franklin,  Mo.,  and  entered  Kansas  through  Johnson 
County.  This  portion  of  it  terminated  at  Council  Grove,  where  it 
was  the  custom  to  halt  and  reorganize  the  caravans  so  that  several 
might  proceed  together,  finding  safety  in  numbers.  From  the  Grove, 
the  Trail  continued  southwest,  reaching  the  Arkansas  River  at  the 
Great  Bend,  following  the  river  to  Cimarron,  and  crossing  near  old 
Fort  Dodge  and  the  present  site  of  Dodge  City,  Kan.  Here  it 
divided,  one  branch  leading  to  New  Mexico,  and  the  other  joining  it 
after  following  a  different  road.  The  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe  Railway  follows  the  Trail  over  part  of  its  route. 

"There  is  a  wonderful  amount  of  history  and  romance  all  along 
the  Old  Santa  Fe  Trail,"  says  J.  R.  Mead,  a  member  of  the  Trail 
Marking  Commission  for  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Kansas. 
"Enough  to  make  volumes  of  absorbing  interest.  The  trail  is  lined 
with  unknown,  unmarked  graves.  From  Cow  Creek,  west  to  the 
State  line,  every  mile  has  its  history  of  battle  attack,  ambush,  stam- 
pede, burned  wagons,  murdered  or  captured  emigrants,  all  kinds  of 
killings  and  escapes.  Nearly  every  General  of  note  in  our  Civil  War, 
sometime  in  his  career  passed  over  the  Trail — Sherman,  Sheridan, 
Harvey,  Hancock,  Kearney,  Miles,  Crook,  Sumner,  Col.  Leaven- 

24 


worth,  Kit  Carson,  and  Col.  Bent.  General  Fremont  traveled  the 
Trail  from  the  Great  Bend  to  the  mountains." 

In  early  days,  the  Trail  was  the  connecting  link  between  east 
and  west.  The  only  teams  seen  on  it  were  the  six  yoke  of  oxen, 
attached  to  a  wagon  carrying  from  six  thousand  to  seven  thousand 
pounds  of  freight,  and  the  four  or  five  span  of  mules  drawing  a  similar 
wagon,  the  number  of  mules  varying  according  to  their  size. 

On  August  10,  1825,  representatives  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment met  with  Chiefs  of  the  Great  and  Little  Osage  Indians,  in 
the  olctoak  grove,  near  the  Neosho  River,  to  arrange  for  right  of  way 
across  the  Plains  on  the  Santa  Fe  Trail.  About  $800.00  in  gold  was 
paid  to  the  Indians  for  this  privilege.  A  week  later,  a  similar  treaty 
was  made  with  the  Kansa  Indians,  near  the  present  town  of  McPher- 
son,  Kan.  On  the  82nd  Anniversary  of  the  treaty  made  in  Council 
Grove,  (Aug.  10,  1907),  a  granite  marker  commemorating  the  event, 
was  dedicated.  It  was  placed  in  the  Grove,  about  forty  feet  distant 
from  the  famous  Council  Oak,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  of  the  many 
monuments  on  the  Trail. 

The  following  verses  are  quoted  from  Senator  George  P.  More- 
house's  poem  entitled  "The  Council  Oak." 

"Yes,  eight  hundred  in  gold  was  the  price  that  it  cost, 

Yet  how  small  such  a  sum  seems  today; 

For  the  tribe  by  that  act  such  a  rich  region  lost, 

When  it  passed  under  whites'  ruling  sway. 

But  the  chiefs  of  the  Great  and  the  Little  Osage, 

When  they  counted  the  gold  on  that  day, 

Were  so  filled  with  delight,  that  'twould  take  quite  a  page 

To  relate  what  they  all  had  to  say. 

Let  us  never  forget,  to  the  praise  of  this  tribe, 

That  they  never  had  war  with  the  whites; 

But  were  loyal  and  true  and  would  scorn  ev'ry  bribe, 

Yet  they  stood  for  their  just  bargained  rights. 

And  they  never  forgot  the  'Old  Council  Oak" 

Or  the  treaty  they  made  on  that  day; 

For,  to  them,  it  was  law  and  no  wise  a  shrewd  joke, 

This  great  Trail  to  the  far  Santa  F<§. 

What  a  noble  old  tree  is  this  sturdy  tall  oak, 

What  a  tale  to  relate  could  it  speak! 

Of  the  camps  and  the  fires,  with  their  blue  curling  smoke, 

Which  ascend  from  the  wigwam's  peak, 

Of  the  storms  and  the  blasts,  of  the  heat  and  the  cold, 

Of  the  going  and  coming  of  men; 

Let .  it  stand  for  a  record  of  days  that  are  old 

And  much  plainer  than  words  from  my  pen." 


25 


CHAPTER  IV 

A   Poplar  and  the  Kensington  Rune   Stone — The  Liberty    Tree   of 
Annapolis — The   Balmville    Tree — Lone   Tree. 

A  POPLAR  AND  THE  KENSINGTON  RUNE  STONE 

A  poplar  tree  on  Mr.  Olaf  Ohman's  farm  near  Kensington, 
Minn.,  has  becpme  known  to  fame  by  reason  of  the  long  hidden  treas- 
ure discovered  beneath  it. 

On  November  8,  1898,  Mr.  Ohman  was  clearing  a  piece  of  land 
for  ploughing,  when  his  men  unearthed  from  the  foot  of  the  poplar 
a  heavy  slab  of  stone  weighing  about  two  hundred  and  thirty  pounds. 
On  it  was  an  inscription  in  runes  or  character  used  in  secret  writing 
so  much  in  vogue  in  early  times. 

Being  translated  it  reads  as  follows:  "Eight  Goths  (Swedes) 
and  twenty-two  Norwegians  upon  a  journey  of  discovery  from  Vin- 
land  westward.  We  had  a  camp  by  two  skerries  one  days  journey 
north  from  this  stone.  We  were  out  fishing  one  day.  When  we 
returned  home  we  found  ten  men  red  with  blood  and  dead.  A.  V.  M. 
(Ave,  Virgo  Maria)  save  us  from  evil.  (We)  have  ten  men  by  the 
sea  to  look  after  our  vessel  fourteen  (doubtfully  forty-one)  days' 
journey  from  this  island.  Year  1362." 

The  stone  was  exhibited,  for  a  while  in  a  drug-store  in  Kensing- 
ton, Minn.,  and  was  also  submitted  to  two  college  professors,  both  of 
whom  pronounced  the  inscription  fraudulent.  Then  it  was  returned 
to  its  owner,  in  1899  and  lay  in  his  yard  where  it  was  carelessly  used  as 
a  stepping-stone  near  his  granary  for  eight  years. 

In  1907,  Mr.  Hjalmar  Rued  Holand  obtained  the  stone  and 
exhibited  it  in  the  Middle  West,  and  also  at  the  Norman  Millennial 
Celebration  at  Ruen,  France,  in  1911.  He  brought  it  to  the  attention 
of  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society  which  directed  the  Museum  Com- 
mittee to  make  an  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
inscription.  Their  researches  are  published  in  full,  in  the  Minnesota 
Historical  Society  Collections,  Volume  15.  They  are  in  part  as 
follows : 

"The  party  started  from  Vinland,  a  very  remarkable  statement, 
in  the  light  of  the  fact  that  it  is  not  know,  even  at  this  day  that  a 
permanent  or  even  temporary  colony  was  established  in  Vinland.  .  .  . 
In  the  light  of  the  results  of  Professor  Fernald's  studies  on  tbe  'Plants 
of  Wineland  the  Good,'  it  is  remarkable,  if  the  stone  is  fraudulent, 
that  the  location  of  Vinland  by  the  statements  of  the  record,  should 
agree  with  the  location  of  that  country  by  Fernald,  since  all  modern 
(and  even  earlier)  descriptions  of  Vinland  have  placed  Vinland  either 
in  Nova  Scotia  or  Massachusetts.  Could  it  have  been  a  random  and 
accidental  coincidence  that  a  fraudulent  record  should  correct  the 

26 


current  historical  belief  of  the  times?  How  could  an  impostor  come 
to  the  knowledge  that  Vinland  was  nowhere  except  in  Labrador,  or 
at  least  in  the  region  about  the  entrance  to  Hudson  Strait?  .  .  .  . 
This  agreement  with  the  latest  research  as  to  the  location  of  Vinland 
is  a  very  suggestive  fact." 

Fourteen  days  journey  from  "the  sea,"  if  the  region  of  Hudson 
Bay  is  indicated,  would  have  brought  the  foreigners,  with  the  means  of 
travel  at  their  command,  to  the  neighborhood  where  the  stone  was 
discovered  and  the  Bay  would  have  been  the  nearest  port.  It  is 
stated  that  their  most  probable  route  would  have  been  from  Vinland 
to  Hudson  Bay,  and  to  Lake  Winnipeg  via  Nelson  River,  and  up  the 
Red  River  of  the  North  to  the  region  where  the  stone  was  found 
buried. 

Professor  Fossom  and  Mr.  Holand  searched  around  Lake  Chris- 
tina and  Pelican,  as  well  as  other  lakes  twenty  miles  north  of  the  stone 
trying  to  locate  the  "two  skerries"  or  rocks  surrounded  by  water. 
Finally,  they  found  two  immense  boulders,  one  of  granite,  the  other 
gneiss;  though  not  in  water  now,  they  are  on  a  point  exposed  to 
destruction  by  ice  and  waves,  and  as  the  lake  level  is  known  to  have 
been  higher  five  or  six  hundred  years  ago,  the  rocks  answer  the  descrip- 
tion perfectly.  The  gradual  drying  up  of  the  region  through  the 
intervening  centuries,  is  an  established  fact.  The  stone  is  described 
as  being  on  an  island,  though  the  ground  where  it  was  found  is  not 
one  today.  As  the  historian  remarks,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that 
these  two  skerries  exist,  and  at  the  right  distance  from  the  site  of  the 
stone,  and  that  there  are  no  others.  In  modern  times,  they  could  not 
be  called  skerries,  there  being  no  water  around  them. 

The  exact  description  of  the  location  of  the  camp  is  no  doubt  due 
to  the  wish  for  accuracy  as  to  the  burial  place  of  the  victims  of  the 
massacre,  which  was  probably  the  work  of  native  savages.  And  as 
the  practice  of  scalping  was  unquestionable  strange  to  the  Scandina- 
vians, they  were  all  the  more  impressed  by  the  horrible  sight,  speaking 
of  their  comrades  as  "red  with  blood  and  dead." 

"A.  V.  M."  stands,  of  course,  for  a  Roman  Catholic  expression, 
which  according  to  Archboship  Ireland,  no  modern  Scandinavian 
would  use,  that  nation  now  being  Lutheran.  But  as  it  was  constantly 
employed  in  the  14th  century,  in  time  of  the  plague  or  "black  death" 
its  use  in  the  inscription,  when  danger  seemed  to  threaten,  is  another 
point  in  favor  of  antiquity. 

It  was  objected,  by  some  scholars,  that  certain  words  used  in  the 
record  are  too  modern;  others,  however,  differed  from  this  opinion. 
At  length,  finding  the  mass  of  evidence  to  point  strongly  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  contested  statement,  the  Minnesota  Historical 
Society  made  the  following  announcement:  "After  carefully  con- 
sidering all  the  opposing  arguments,  the  Museum  Committee  of  this 
Society,  and  Mr.  Holand,  owner  of  the  stone,  believe  its  inscription 
is  a  true  historic  record." 

27 


Which  conclusion  exonerated  Mr.  Ohman  from  the  accusation 
made  against  him  of  having  cut  the  inscription;  and  further  proof  of 
his  innocence  was  furnished  by  the  sentinel  poplar  itself,  its  roots  being 
wrapped  securely  about  the  stone  till  they  were  flattened  by  contact 
with  it.  Investigation  showed  that  they  had  been  in  this  condition 
without  interference,  during  the  tree's  entire  lifetime — from  thirty  to 
fifty  years — or  before  his  ownership  of  the  farm. 

THE  LIBERTY  TREE  OF  ANNAPOLIS 

Oh  the  campus  of  St.  John's  College,  in  the  quaint  town  of 
Annapolis,  Md.,  stands  a  huge  poplar  long  known  as  the  Liberty 
Tree,  and  entitled  to  fame  both  on  account  of  its  great  age  and  size, 
and  because  of  the  historic  ground  on  which  it  grows. 

Two  feet  above  ground  level,  it  measures  twenty-nine  feet,  four 
inches  in  circumference,  and  its  height  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 

Tradition  tells  us  that  in  1652,  a  treaty  was  made  under  the 
Liberty  Tree,  between  the  whites  and  the  Susquehannock  Indians. 
A  century  later,  when  problems  caused  by  conditions  leading  up  to  the 
war  of  the  Revolution  were  under  discussion,  patriotic  meetings  were 
held  in  its  shade,  probably  earning  for  the  old  tree  its  honorable  title. 
Later  still,  General  Lafayette  was  entertained  beneath  its  shade,  when 
he  visited  Annapolis,  in  1824. 

The  College  in  front  of  which  the  Liberty  Tree  stands,  was 
formerly  King  William's  School,  founded  in  1694,  "for  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  and  the  education  of  youth  in  letters  and  good 
manners."  In  1784,  the  school  was  merged  into  St.  John's  College, 
whose  central  and  oldest  building,  McDowell  Hall,  was  begun  in  1745. 

In  the  rear,  Rochambeau's  army  camped,  en  route  to  Yorktown 
to  reinforce  Washington's  troops. 

Not  only  does  the  Liberty  Tree  commemorate  the  time  honored 
events  of  its  vicinity,  but  its  personal  history  is  worth  recording.  As 
years  passed,  it  began  to  show  signs  of  decay,  and  was  supposed  to  be 
dying.  In  1840,  some  mischievous  boys,  playing  with  gunpowder, 
placed  two  pounds  in  the  hollow  trunk,  and  set  fire  to  them.  The 
tree  caught  easily,  and  was  soon  in  flames  which  were  extinguished  by 
the  citizens  who,  no  doubt,  supposed  it  fatally  injured! 

The  prank,  however,  proved  a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  the  blaze 
destroyed  the  worms  which  were  feeding  upon  its  tissues,  and  the 
following  year  it  burst  into  leaf,  hale  and  hearty,  none  the  worse  for 
its  adventure. 

But  in  1907,  the  aged  poplar  again  required  attention,  having 
become  so  hollowed  by  decay  that  eight  or  ten  persons  could  stand  in 
the  interior.  The  cavity  was  filled  with  over  fifty  tons  of  concrete  and 
the  branches  were  strengthened  with  iron  rods,  and  thus  a  much 
loved  and  venerated  landmark  has  been  preserved  for  a  long  and 
prosperous  future.  So  successful  has  the  treatment  proved  that  the 

28 


tree  has  withstood  a  number  of  severe  storms,  and  every  spring  it 
breaks  into  leaf  with  renewed  vigor. 

It  bears  the  following  inscription:  "This  tablet  placed  upon  the 
Liberty  Tree  by  the  Peggy  Stewart  Tea  Party  Chapter  Daughters  of 
the  American  Revolution,  of  Annapolis,  Maryland,  October  19,  1907, 
to  commemorate  the  first  treaty  made  here  with  the  Susquehannocks 
in  1652,  and  that  George  Washington  in  1791,  and  General  Lafayette 
in  1824,  visited  St.  John's  College.  Through  the  munificence  of 
James  T.  Woodward,  of  New  York  City,  this  tree,  estimated  to  be 
over  six  hundred  years  old,  has  been  preserved  from  decay." 

THE  BALMVILLE  TREE 

A  short  trolley-ride  northward  from  Newburgh-on-the-Hudson, 
N.  Y.,  carries  one  to  the  village  of  Balmville,  named  after  the  old 
balsam  poplar,  of  immense  size,  that  stands  in  the  centre  of  the 
little  town.  The  surrounding  country  is  as  full  of  historic  associations 
as  of  natural  beauty. 

During  the  Revolution,  the  town  of  Newburgh,  where  Wash- 
ington occupied  headquarters,  and  Balmville,  situated  on  a  much 
traveled  route  known  as  the  King's  Highway,  were  frequented  by  the 
American  troops.  The  huge  poplar  or  Balm  of  Gilead  Tree, — so-called 
on  account  of  the  gum  secreted  by  the  leaf -buds  and  young  shoots, 
and  supposed  to  possess  healing  properties — stood  on  the  Highway. 
John  Cosman,  who  before  the  Revolution  was  apprenticed  to  a  black- 
smith in  the  neighborhood,  is  quoted  as  stating  that  he  often  shod 
horses  under  the  tree  which  even  then  was  good  sized. 

But  little  is  known  of  its  early  history.  According  to  one  account 
it  grew  from  a  riding-switch  that  was  stuck  in  the  ground;  it  is  also 
said  to  have  been  brought  as  a  small  branch,  broken  from  a  tree  in  the 
mountains  of  New  Jersey.  Another  tradition  says  that  it  sprang  up, 
naturally,  in  the  place  where  it  now  stands. 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  concerning  the  origin  of  the  huge 
tree,  however,  it  is  noteworthy  both  by  reason  of  its  probable  useful- 
ness to  the  travelers  of  early  days,  and  also  its  remarkable  proportions, 
the  diameter  of  a  poplar  ordinarily  averaging  about  seven  feet.  The 
Balmville  Tree  has  been  measured  several  times,  and  the  results 
recorded1.  In  Rutenber's  History  of  Orange  County  and  Newburgh, 
it  is  said  that  a  Mr.  James  Donnelly  who  first  saw  the  tree  about  1782, 
stated  that  it  was  then  six  or  eight  inches  around,  with  a  spreading 
top.  In  1832,  the  trunk  was  measured  by  a  Mr.  Williams,  who  found 
that  at  two  feet  above  the  ground,  its  diameter  was  fifteen  feet,  two 
inches;  in  1868,  it  had  increased  to  nineteen  feet,  five  inches.  Today 
it  has  reached  a  circumference  of  twenty-one  feet,  eight  inches,  at  two 
feet  above  ground  level,  indicating  that  it  may  be  much  older  than  is 
estimated. 

29 


LONE  TREE 

On  the  north  bank  of  the  Platte  River,  about  three  miles  south- 
west of  the  site  of  Central  City,  Neb.,  stood  for  many  years  a  solitary 
cottonwood  known  as  Lone  Tree.  Named  by  the  Indians,  their  chiefs 
are  said  to  have  held  their  councils  beneath  its  spreading  shade,  long 
before  the  first  white  settler  had  reached  the  spot. 

Fifty  feet  tall,  Lone  Tree  could  be  seen  for  twenty  miles  across 
the  Platte  valley,  and  standing  only  a  few  yards  from  Ihe  overland 
trail  north  of  the  Platte  River,  it  was  a  favorite  rendezvous  for  the 
many  travelers  who  camped  nearby  in  early  days,  and  cut  their  names 
on  its  bark,  until  its  massive  trunk  was  covered  with  these  hierogly- 
phics to  the  height  of  thirty  feet. 

Lone  Tree  ranch,  established  in  the  neighborhood,  in  1858,  was 
christened  in  honor  of  the  old  tree,  and  so  were  the  postoffice  and  rail- 
way station  three  miles  distant  from  it. 

In  1865,  the  big  cottonwood  fell  victim  to  the  violence  of  a  heavy 
storm,  and  a  portion  of  its  trunk  was  preserved  at  Lone  Tree  station, 
(now  Central  City)  as  a  souvenir  of  the  historic  tree  that  had  been 
loved  by  thousands  of  pioneers  in  the  West.  It  stood  on  the  station 
platform  until  ^11  the  wood  had  been  chipped  off  and  carried  away  by 
tourists. 

In  1911,  a  stone  monument  in  the  form  of  a  cottonwood  stump 
was  erected  on  the  spot  where  Lone  Tree  grew.  "There  it  stands  to- 
day," says  A.  E.  Sheldon,  author  of  "History  and  Stories  of 
Nebraska,"  "in  perpetual  witness  to  the  worth  of  a  tree." 


30 


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CHAPTER  V 

The  Treaty  Tree  of  Indian  Springs — The  Geneva  Century  Tree — The 
Pueblo  Cottonwood — The  Vaulting-Pole  Cottonwood — The  Rhode 
Island  Sycamore — The  Charlemont  Buttonwood — The  Pringle 
Sycamore — Lafayette  Sycamore — Princeton  Sycamores — Syca- 
mores of  Camp  Frelinghuysen — John  Goodway  Sycamore — A 
Sycamore  That  Owns  Itself. 

THE  TREATY  TREE  OF  INDIAN  SPRINGS 

Near  Indian  Springs,  Ga.,  stands  a  poplar  said  to  be  the  largest 
tree  of  its  kind  in  the  State,  its  trunk  measuring  twelve  feet  in  circum- 
ference nearly  one  hundred  feet  upward  from  the  ground  level.  It  is 
known  as  the  Treaty  Tree  of  Indian  Springs,  and  is  a  fitting  monu- 
ment to  two  famous  treaties  made  in  its  immediate  neighborhood  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  the  red  men. 

Troubles  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians  had  marred  the 
closing  years  of  the  18th  century,  perhaps  due  to  the  increasing 
demands  for  lands  owned  by  the  latter.  In  1802,  Georgia  ceded  to 
the  Federal  Government  all  of  her  territory  west  of  the  Chattahoo- 
chee,  for  the  sum  of  $1,250,000.00,  with  the  agreement  that  all  Indian 
titles  within  her  borders  were  to  be  peaceably  obliterated. 

This  promise  was  not  kept,  however,  and  in  1823,  two  prominent 
men,  Campbell  and  Meriwether,  for  both  of  whom  counties  were  after- 
ward named,  were  sent  to  treat  with  the  Creek  Nation,  which  held  a 
large  tract  between  the  Flint  and  Chattahoochee.  The  Upper  Creeks, 
as  they  were  called,  lived  in  Alabama;  the  Lower  Creeks  in  Georgia, 
headed  by  General  William  Mclntosh,  whose  father  was  a  Scotchman, 
and  his  mother  an  Indian  woman. 

The  conference  was  not  a  peaceful  one ;  the  Upper  Creeks  refused 
any  cession  of  land  to  the  whites,  but  the  lower  Creeks,  consenting, 
met  them  at  Indian  Springs,  on  February  12,  1825,  and  signed  a 
treaty,  promising  to  move  west,  not  later  than  September  1,  1826. 
They  were  to  be  paid  $4,000.00,  and  acres  of  land  equal  to  what  they 
relinquished. 

Angry  at  the  loss  of  their  lands,  however,  the  hostile  Creeks 
planned  and  executed  one  of  the  most  tragic  reprisals  in  the  history 
of  our  country. 

General  Mclntosh  was  the  victim,  on  account  of  his  having 
played  such  a  prominent  part  in  the  transaction.  One  hundred  and 
seventy  Indians  concealed  themselves  in  the  woods  close  by  his  house 
on  the  bank  of  the  Chattahooche  River,  near  the  modern  town  of 
Carrollton. 

Just  before  daybreak,  on  May  1,  1825,  they  set  fire  to  the  build- 
ing. Mclntosh  and  the  friend  who  was  with  him,  treated  the  savages 

31 


to  a  volley  of  shots  from  behind  their  barricade,  but  the  door  was 
quickly  battered  in,  and  the  brave  chief  who  had  more  than  once  served 
his  country  well,  died  a  fearful  death  at  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 

Later,  the  treaty  of  1825  was  repudiated  by  Congress,  and  a  new 
one  drawn  up,  altering  the  boundaries  of  Georgia.  The  State's  survey 
of  the  newly  acquired  land  was  ordered  stopped,  by  President  Adams, 
doubtless  at  the  instigation  of  the  discontented  chiefs,  who  had  gone 
unpunished  for  the  murder  of  Mclntosh  and  their  white  friends. 

But  Governor  Troup,  of  Georgia,  General  Macintosh's  cousin, 
and  a  vigorous  upholder  of  State  sovereignty,  stoutly  refused  to 
recognize  the  changes,  and  continued  the  survey  of  the  land  which  he 
had  begun  by  order  of  the  State.  He  sent  the  following  message  to 
Congress:  "We  might  constitutionally  have  appealed  to  you  for 
defense  against  invasion,  but  you  yourselves  are  the  invaders;  and, 
what  is  more,  the  unblushing  allies  of  savages  whose  cause  you  have 
adopted."  Finally,  due  to  his  firm  stand,  the  matter  was  adjusted 
peaceably. 

The  old  Treaty  Tree  recalls  a  stirring  chapter,  indeed,  in  Ameri- 
can history,  and  has  been  commemorated  in  verse  by  Lucien  Lamar 
Knight,  State  Historian  of  Georgia. 

"By  the  water's  crystal  margin, 

On  whose  bosom,  dreamily, 
Falls  the  shadow  of  the  forest, 

Stands  a  proud,  imperial  tree. 
No  companion  rises  near  it; 

No  congenial  shade  is  nigh; 
Rivaled   only  by  the   mountains, 

Piled  against  the  purple  sky. 

"Fit  memorial  of  the  Red  Man — 

Its  majestic  silence  speaks, 
Of  a  time  when  all  these  valleys 

Held  the  wigwams  of  the  Creeks. 
Ere  their  fair  domain  was  ceded, 

At  the  white  man's  stern  behest, 
Or  the  sunset's  beckoning  splendors, 

Wooed  them  to  the  Golden  West. 

"Like  a  tall  Corinthian  column, 

Reared  beneath  a  summer  cloud, 
Part  of  God's  own  grand  pavilon, 

Verdue-paved  and  azure-browed; 
Reaching  from  the  world  below  it, 

From  its  sorrow-stricken  sod, 
To  the  golden  lamps  above  it — 

To  the  sweeter  airs  of  God." 

THE  LAFAYETTE  on  GENEVA  CENTURY  TREE 

On  June  8,  1825,  General  Lafayette  was  entertained  at  Geneva, 
N.  Y.,  while  touring  that  State,  and  was  received  by  an  enthusiastic 
gathering,  under  the  tree  which  still  bears  his  name.  The  Lafayette  or 
Geneva  Century  Tree,  as  it  has  also  been  called,  is  an  immense  balsam 
poplar,  standing  on  Maple  Hill,  on  the  corner  of  the  Albany  and 
Buffalo  turnpike  and  the  old  Pre-emption  Road.  This  highway  was 
once  an  Indian  trail,  but  became  a  State  road  in  1794. 

32 


The  branches  of  the  south  half  of  the  tree  shade  the  whole  width 
of  the  street,  and  religious  services  have  been  held  under  them,  accom- 
modating quite  a  congregation.  One  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in 
height,  it  boasts  a  circumference  of  twenty-four  feet,  and  the  diameter 
of  its  foliage  measures  one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet. 

The  great  poplar  claims  an  interesting  history.  Over  a  century 
ago,  when  Geneva  was  a  tiny  settlement,  Ephraim  Lee,  a  free  trader, 
traveled  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  by  this  road.  He  cut  a  sapling  for 
a  walking-stick,  but  overcome  with  weariness,  lay  down  for  a  nap 
under  the  maple  trees  on  the  hill,  sticking  his  cane  in  the  ground  for 
safe-keeping.  When  he  awoke  and  found  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  he 
hurried  forward  on  his  journey,  forgetting  the  sapling.  Passing  it  on 
his  trip,  the  year  following,  he  was  surprised  to  see  that  it  was  growing 
and  in  leaf. 

There  it  continued  to  flourish,  being  spared  because  of  its  odd 
history,  after  the  maples  were  cut  down.  In  1843,  the  roadmaster 
insisted  that  the  tree  must  be  destroyed.  The  resourceful  owner,  how- 
ever, wasted  no  time  in  parleying,  but  hammered  spikes  into  its  trunk 
from  the  ground  upward,  encasing  it  in  a  coat  of  mail  which  no  axe 
could  penetrate.  Tree  experts  have  been  reported  as  believing  that 
the  iron  has  been  a  great  factor  in  the  poplar's  age  and  vigor. 

THE  PUEBLO  COTTONWOOD 

A  huge  poplar  or  cottonwood  at  Pueblo,  Colo.,  shaded  the  burial 
spot  of  the  first  white  woman  who  died  within  the  boundaries  of  that 
State.  Beneath  its  branches,  thirty-six  white  persons  were  massacred 
by  savages  and  fourteen  men  were  hung  from  the  old  tree's  branches. 
When  the  cottonwood  was  felled  in  1883,  its  age  was  considered  to  be 
three  hundred  and  eighty  years.  A  cross  section  of  its  trunk  was 
placed  on  exhibition  in  Mineral  Palace,  Pueblo. 

VAULTING-POLE  COTTONWOOD 

In  the  spring  of  1815,  two  boys,  Hosea  Pierce  and  a  companion, 
returned  to  their  homes  near  Norris  City,  111.,  after  serving  in  the 
War  of  1912.  Both  boys  had  helped  General  Jackson  to  rout  the 
British  at  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans.  During  the  spring,  both 
attended  a  log-rolling  on  the  Pierce  farm,  and  on  their  way  home, 
used  their  cottonwood  handspikes  as  vaulting-poles,  making  a  wager 
which  could  vault  the  further.  They  left  the  handspikes  sticking  in 
the  earth,  and  both  poles  took  root,  and  developed  into  fine  trees.  One 
lived  till  about  1910,  the  other  is  still  standing  at  one  hundred  and 
five  years  of  age.  It  is  an  immense  tree,  thirty  feet  in  circumference, 
and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  high.  The  hollow  base  of  its 
trunk  is  used  to  shelter  setting  hens,  or  as  a  kennel.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  no  effort  is  made  to  preserve  this  interesting  old  poplar. 

33 


THE  RHODE  ISLAND  SYCAMORE 

One  disastrous  result  of  the  British  occupation  of  Rhode  Island 
from  1776  to  1779,  was  the  ruthless  destruction  of  its  forests,  specially 
along  the  coast  region.  During  the  severe  winter  of  1780,  when  many 
refugees  from  the  State  returned  to  their  homes,  wood  was  so  scarce 
that  in  Newport  it  sold  at  $20.00  a  cord. 

One  ancient  sycamore  remained,  however,  mysteriously  spared  to 
mourn  its  departed  comrades.  It  stood  on  the  estate  of  Thomas  R. 
Hazard,  between  the  house  and  the  Seaconnet  or  Eastern  Channel.  A 
few  years  before  the  old  tree  fell  in  1869,  its  trunk  measured  thirty- 
two  feet  in  circumference  at  twelve  inches  from  the  ground.  Its  upper 
portion  destroyed  by  wind  and  storm,  it  has  been  described  as  "the  pic- 
ture of  a  desolated  Anak  of  the  woods." 

Probably  numbering  its  years  at  several  centuries,  the  Rhode 
Island  Sycamore  may  have  witnessed  stirring  events  unrecorded  in 
American  history,  as  well  as  the  tragic  days  of  the  Revolution.  One 
daring  episode  that  transpired  nearby,  just  below  Vaucluse,  was  the 
capture  of  Pigot,  the  floating  battery,  equipped  with  twelve  eight- 
pounders  and  ten  swivels,  which  the  British  were  using  to  block  the 
Channel.  Captain  Silas  Talbot  undertook  its  removal;  arming  the 
Hawk,  a  coasting  schooner,  with  sixty-eight  men  he  sailed  down  under 
cover  of  a  dark  night,  secured  his  prisoners  by  fastening  cables  over 
the  hatchway,  and  carried  his  prize  off  to  Stonington. 

THE  CHARLEMONT  BUTTONWOOD 

Another  historic  sycamore  or  buttonwood  stands  in  the  town  of 
Charlemont,  Mass.,  near  the  Deerfield  River.  It  is  a  noble  shade  tree, 
ninety-eight  feet  in  height,  while  its  branches  cast  their  shadow  over  a 
radius  of  eighty-five  feet.  Under  them  passes  one  of  the  ancient 
highways  of  the  Indians,  the  "Mohawk  Trail." 

Captain  Moses  Rice,  the  first  pioneer  settler  of  the  place,  has 
left  the  record,  handed  down  from  one  member  of  his  family  to  an- 
other, that  "he  had  slept  under  the  Buttonwood  tree  when  there  was 
not  another  white  person  in  town." 

He  had  come  to  a  region  that  was  hostile  to  strangers,  though 
for  a  while  the  household  was  unmolested,  and  was  a  centre  of  hospi- 
tality for  travelers.  But  in  1746,  Captain  Rice  and  his  family  were 
forced  to  escape  to  Rutland  in  order  to  save  their  scalps  from  the 
savages.  Three  years  later  he  returned  to  find  the  house  destroyed, 
and  unluckily  for  himself,  rebuilt  it. 

He  was  ploughing,  in  company  with  his  son,  grandson,  and  two 
friends  on  the  morning  of  June  11, 1755,  when  a  party  of  six  Indians, 
who  were  hidden  among  the  trees,  waiting  the  moment  most  favor- 
able to  an  attack,  fired  and  surrounded  them.  Captain  Rice  was 
badly  wounded,  and  after  a  sharp  struggle,  was  scalped  and  left  bleed- 
ing, while  his  companions  were  either  killed  or  made  prisoners.  A  few 
hours  later  he  died  at  his  son's  house. 

34 


1  \1 


THE  PRINGLE  SYCAMORE'S  DESCENDANT 

Courtes^  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Me  WKorter 


On  the  hillside,  in  sight  of  the  old  Buttonwood,  venerable  head- 
stones, on  some  of  which  the  inscriptions  are  nearly  obliterated,  mark 
the  graves  of  himself  and  his  family,  and  Phineas  Arms,  another  vic- 
tim of  the  same  massacre. 

THE  PBJNGLE  SYCAMORE 

A  tree  that  for  many  years  recalled  to  memory  the  earliest  white 
settlers  of  West  Virginia,  was  the  famous  Pringle  Sycamore,  which 
stood  about  three  miles  north  of  the  present  city  of  Buckhannon  in 
that  State,  at  the  mouth  of  a  stream  known  as  Turkey  Run. 

The  two  brothers,  Samuel  and  John  Pringle,  deserted  from  the 
British  forces  at  Fort  Pitt,  in  1761.  Their  chief  concern  being  how 
to  escape  arrest,  they  camped  with  two  comrades,  first  in  the  wild 
country  about  the  Monongahela  River,  then  near  the  borders  of  the 
Youghioghney.  In  1762,  they  arrived  at  a  settlement  in  Looney 
Creek,  but  there  two  of  the  party  were  arrested.  The  Pringies,  fortu- 
nate enough  to  get  away,  continued  their  travels,  finally  reaching  the 
Buckhannon  River,  and  finding,  on  its  bank  the  old  sycamore  in  whose 
hollow  trunk  they  proceeded  to  make  their  home.  The  cavity  meas- 
ured eleven  feet,  inside,  and  in  this  palatial  retreat  the  fugitives  lived 
for  over  two  years  until  the  late  of  autumn  of  1767. 

Then  they  faced  starvation,  only  two  charges  of  powder  remain- 
ing. John  journeyed  back,  across  the  mountains  in  search  of  more 
ammunition,  and  learned  that  peace  had  been  made  with  the  French 
and  Indians.  No  longer  fearing  arrest,  the  two  brothers  left  the 
old  tree  which  had  sheltered  them  in  such  friendly  fashion,  and 
returned  to  their  former  haunts  on  the  Wappatomaka  River,  the  south 
branch  of  the  Potomac. 

In  the  fall  of  1768,  Samuel  led  a  party  of  colonists  back  to  the 
banks  of  the  Buckhannon,  where,  the  next  spring  they  cleared  land, 
planted  and  built  their  cabins.  The  first  crops  were  destroyed  by 
buffalos,  and  it  was  not  till  1770  that  the  pioneer  settlement  was 
really  established.  One  of  their  number  was  Jesse  Hughes,  who 
became  a  renowned  scout  and  Indian  fighter. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  a  man  named  William  Pringle,  living 
in  Philadelphia,  was  the  father  of  two  sons  named  John  and  Samuel, 
born  in  1728  and  1731.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  two  boys  were  the 
future  tenants  of  the  hollow  sycamore. 

The  old  tree  fell  about  a  century  ago,  but  the  stump  remained  as 
late  as  1848.  It  disappeared,  but  a  second  tree  sprang  up  from  its 
roots,  and  flourished  till  a  flood  carried  it  away  in  1880. 

But  there  was  still  life  and  enterprise  in  the  roots  of  the  Pringle 
Sycamore.  "As  if  reluctant  to  fail  to  mark  the  site  of  the  first  primi- 
tive home  of  the  white  man  in  that  region,"  says  L.  V.  McWhorter, 
the  historian,  "the  roots  shot  forth  a  second  sprout  and  this  grew 
into  a  bushy  tree."  And  by  a  singular  coincidence — "It  has  a  cavity 

35 


in  its  trunk  that  will  shelter  two  or  three  men  from  an  ordinary 
storm." 

Mr.  Webster  Dix,  the  owner  of  the  sycamore,  has  promised  that 
it  shall  be  carefully  preserved. 

THE  LAFAYETTE  SYCAMORE 

Among  the  historic  landmarks  connected  with  the  Battle  of  the 
Brandywine,  visitors  to  the  region  are  shown  the  house,  on  Baltimore 
Pike,  in  Birmingham  township,  Delaware  County,  Perm.,  which  Gen- 
eral Lafayette  ©ccupied  as  his  headquarters,  just  before  the  battle,  or 
early  in  September,  1777. 

Close  by  the  house  stands  a  fine  old  sycamore,  measuring  twenty- 
two  feet  in  circumference  at  a  short  distance  above  ground  level,  still 
healthy  and  vigorous,  a  living  memorial  of  the  brave  but  unequal 
struggle,  when  Washington  with  11,000  men  attempted  to  check 
Howe's  advance  to  Philadelphia  with  nearly  double  that  number. 

At  the  close  of  the  day,  Washington  retired  to  Chester,  and  (so 
the  story  runs),  Lafayette,  badly  wounded  in  the  leg,  stood  at  the 
old  Third  Street  bridge  in  that  town,  endeavoring  to  rally  the  retreat- 
ing troops.  It  is  said  that  he  was  carried  back  to  headquarters,  and 
laid  under  the  old  sycamore ;  but  it  is  also  stated  and  probably  on  good 
authority,  that  he  never  returned  there,  but  was  cared  for  in  Chester. 
And  in  that  town  three  places  contend  for  the  honor  of  having  been 
the  spot  where  his  wounds  were  treated ! 

THE  PRINCETON  SYCAMORES 

In  1765,  the  year  preceding  the  Stamp  Act  Repeal,  an  order  was 
given  to  plant  a  number  of  sycamores  in  front  of  the  residence  of  the 
President  of  the  College  at  Princeton,  N.  J.  It  is  possible  that  the 
order  was  not  carried  out  till  the  following  year,  and  perhaps  for  this 
reason  these  trees  have  always  been  associated  with  the  Stamp  Act. 
Two  of  them  are  still  standing,  on  Nassau  Street,  the  old  house  being 
now  occupied  by  the  Dean.  They  are  splendid  specimens,  about 
ninety  feet  tall,  and  three  feet  in  diameter  at  six  feet  above  the  ground. 

SYCAMORES  OF  CAMP  FRELINGHUYSEN 

Other  sycamores,  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  lay  claim  to  historic  interest 
as  belonging  to  "Camp  Frelinghuysen,"  the  drill  ground  for  New 
Jersey  Volunteers,  1862-1865.  Men  who  trained  here  gave  their  lives 
on  every  battlefield  from  Antietam  to  Appomattox.  "One  of  the  trees 
is  known  as  the  Colonial  Plane,  and  is  honored  as  a  tree  under  which 
Washington  and  his  army  passed,  in  1776.  Another,  the  Academy 
Plane,  witnessed  the  burning  of  the  First  Academy,  in  1780,  when  a 
party  of  British  soldiers  crossed  the  frozen  river  from  New  York,  and 
took  the  town  by  surprise. 

36 


THE  JOHN  GOODWAY  SYCAMORE 

Just  outside  of  Linglestown,  Dauphin  County,  Perm.,  stands  a 
sycamore  pronounced  by  the  Department  of  Forestry  to  be  the  largest 
in  the  State.  The  tree  is  associated  with  John  Goodway;  the  last  of 
the  friendly  Indians  in  the  region  about  Harrisburg  and  has  been  left 
standing  as  a  memorial  to  him.  Its  circumference  is  twenty-five  feet 
and  its  diameter  is  over  seven  feet. 

A  SYCAMORE  THAT  OWNS  ITSELF 

Through  the  kindness  of  admiring  friends,  a  large  sycamore  of 
Pippapass,  Knott  County,  Ky.,  has  received  a  gift  of  land  sufficient 
to  protect  it  from  interference  as  long  as  it  shall  live.  While  the 
tree's  exact  age  is  not  known,  it  must  be  estimated  at  many  years,  the 
trunk  measuring  nine  feet  in  circumference  at  a  height  of  four  feet 
from  the  ground.  It  shades  a  home  known  as  "the  house  of  the 
sycamore  tree,"  in  the  Caney  Creek  Community  Centre,  and  has  been 
christened  the  "Freed-Budd  Tree,"  probably  in  compliment  to  two  of 
its  well  wishers. 

The  deed  of  conveyance  filed  in  Knott  County,  on  August  20, 
1918,  reads  as  follows: 

"For,  and  in  consideration  of  its  shade,  coolness  and  inspiration, 
and  in  value  of  itself  as  an  aesthetic  asset,  the  parties  of  the  first  part 
hereby  convey  to  the  party  of  the  second  part  in  trust  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  said  sycamore  tree,  and  to  ITSELF  as  absolute  owner, 
the  said  tree,  and  the  said  terra-firma,  the  ground  upon  which  it  stands, 
is  to  belong  to  ITSELF,  and  is  hereby  conveyed  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  said  tree  is  conveyed,  in  consideration  of  the  value  of  itself,  as 
a  resting  place  for  the  weary  under  the  shade  of  said  tree,  and  the 
said  tree  and  the  said  terra-firma  are  to  belong  to  themselves  absolutely 
and  to  each  other  for  all  the  purposes  which  Nature  and  God  intended 
them,  among  which  is  the  purpose  of  the  soil  to  nurture  and  feed  the 
tree,  and  that  of  the  tree  to  shade,  grace  and  beautify  the  said  terra- 
firma."  Thirty-six  square  feet  is  the  extent  of  the  land  owned  by  the 
sycamore. 

Herein  is  contained  a  happy  suggestion  for  all  tree-lovers. 


37 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Penn  Treaty  Elm — Descendants  of  the  Penn  Treaty  Elm. 

THE  PENN  TREATY  ELM 

The  Penn  Treaty  Elm  stood  at  Shackamaxon,  on  the  Delaware, 
a  few  miles  north  of  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  and  was  a  tree  of  noble  pro- 
portions, measuring  twenty-four  feet  in  circumference  at  its  base,  and 
noted  as  having  a  branch  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  Under  its 
spreading  shade  many  a  council  had  been  held  among  the  chiefs  of 
the  various  Indian  nations,  who  either  lived  in  the  vicinity,  or  came  as 
guests,  and  to  this  custom  the  place  owed  its  name  of  Shachamaxon. 
Originally,  as  appears  in  old  records,  the  spelling  was  Sachamexing 
or  Sachemexing,  derived  from  the  word  Sakima,  a  king  or  chief, 
(whence  our  familiar  word  Sachem),  and  the  Indian  termination 
"ing"  which  signified  "locality  or  place  where,"  therefore  "place  where 
chiefs  resort." 

Naturally  enough,  it  has  been  thought  that  the  old  elm  was  also 
the  meeting-place  of  the  chiefs  and  Mr.  Markham,  William  Perm's 
cousin,  who  preceded  him  to  the  New  World,  as  his  representative; 
and  also  the  three  commissioners,  sent  by  the  Proprietor  to  assist  in 
looking  after  his  affairs.  They  brought  with  them  the  following 
instructions : 

"Be  tender  of  offending  the  Indians.  Let  them  know  that  you 
are  come  to  sit  lovingly  among  them.  Let  my  letter  and  conditions 
with  my  purchasers  about  just  dealing  with  them  be  read  in  their  own 
tongue,  that  they  may  see  we  have  their  good  in  our  eye,  equal  with 
our  own  interest ;  and  after  reading  my  letter  and  the  said  conditions, 
then  present  their  kings  with  what  I  send  them,  and  make  a  friend- 
ship and  league  with  them  according  to  those  conditions,  which  care- 
fully observe,  and  get  them  to  comply  with  you;  be  grave,  they  love 
not  to  be  smiled  on." 

The  letter  referred  to, — William  Penn's  celebrated  letter  to  the 
Indians, — is  dated  October  18,  1681.  "I  shall  shortly  come  to  see  you, 
myself,"  he  writes,  "at  which  time  we  may  more  freely  and  largely 
confer  and  discourse  on  these  matters.  In  the  meantime,  I  have  sent 
my  commissioners  to  treat  with  you  about  land  and  a  firm  league  of 
peace." 

It  was  to  confirm  this  "league  of  peace"  that  William  Penn  met 
the  chiefs  under  the  treaty  tree,  in  1682;  perhaps  also  to  endorse  the 
protection  promised  by  his  commissioners  to  the  Susquehannas,  who 
were  annoyed  by  troubles  in  their  territory.  The  belief  that  there  was, 
on  this  occasion,  any  transaction  concerning  the  purchase  of  land  by 
him,  is  unfounded,  as  the  earliest  authentic  record  of  such  a  purchase 
by  himself  is  dated  June  23,  1683.  So  deeply  rooted  was  this  idea, 

38 


however,  that  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  commissioned 
Peter  du  Ponceau  and  J.  Francis  Fisher  to  investigate  the  truth  con- 
cerning the  famous  treaty,  and  their  report  published  in  1834,  but  as 
too  often  happens,  lying  unread  in  the  archives  of  the  Society,  sheds 
much  light  upon  a  story  which  must  always  be  of  interest  to  lovers  of 
history. 

It  clearly  shows  that  the  treaty  was  simply  a  guarantee  of  friend- 
ship and  good-will,  in  order  that  the  tribes  might  be  assured  of  the 
white  mens'  desire  for  peace  and  fair  dealing.  Penn's  fame  should  rest 
not  upon  the  fact  of  having  entered  into  such  an  agreement,  various 
other  treaties  of  similar  character  having  previously  been  made  be- 
tween the  whites  and  Indians,  but  upon  the  manner  in  which  he  lived 
up  to  the  spirit  of  it. 

His  personal  friend,  Mr.  Oldmixon,  who,  in  1708,  published  a 
book  entitled  "The  British  Empire  in  America,"  records  that  the 
Indians  "have  been  very  civil  and  friendly  to  the  English,  who  never 
lost  man,  woman  or  child  by  them,  which  neither  the  colony  of  Mary- 
land nor  that  of  Virginia  can  say,  no  more  than  the  great  colony  of 
New  England.  This  friendship  and  civility  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Indians  are  imputed  to  Mr.  Penn,  the  Proprietary's  extreme 
humanity  and  bounty  to  them,  he  having  laid  out  some  thousands  of 
pounds  to  instruct,  support  and  oblige  them. 

Heckewelder,  who  wrote  a  history  of  the  Indians  of  Pennsylvania 
and  nearby  States,  says,  that  the  tribes  "frequently  assembled  in  the 
woods,  in  some  spot,  as  nearly  as  possible  similar  to  those  where  they 
used  to  meet  their  brother  Miquon,"  (the  Dela wares'  name  for  Penn) , 
"and  there  lay  his  words  or  speeches,  with  those  of  his  successors,  on 
a  blanket  or  clean  piece  of  bark,  and  with  great  satisfaction  go  succes- 
sively over  the  whole.  This  practice,  which  I  have  repeatedly  wit- 
nessed, continued  until  the  year  1780,  when  the  disturbances  which 
then  took  place  put  an  end  to  it,  probably  forever." 

Unfortunately,  the  text  of  the  "Great  Treaty"  has  not  been  pre- 
served. Governor  Gordon,  of  Pennsylvania,  (the  same  who  styled 
William  Penn,  "The  Father  of  this  Country")  referred  to  it  as  having 
been  recorded  in  writing,  but  as  no  such  record  could  be  found  in 
possession  of  the  Provincial  Council  at  Harrisburg,  one  or  another  of 
the  Provincial  governors  was  accused  of  having  carried  it  away, 
though  there  seems  to  have  been  no  good  reason  for  any  such  rumor. 
Our  fullest  authentic  version  of  its  stipulations  is  contained  in  Gov- 
ernor Gordon's  speech  to  "Civility"  and  other  Indian  Chiefs  with 
whom  he  met,  at  Conestogo,  in  1728,  on  the  occasion  of  another  treaty. 
He  then  referred  to  the  "chief  heads"  of  the  Penn  Treaty  as  in  sub- 
stance as  follows:  that  all  William  Penn's  people  and  the  Indians 
should  be  brethren,  showing  each  other  hospitality;  that  they  should 
believe  no  false  rumors  about  each  other  without  ascertaining  the 
truth,  but  should  'bury  them  as  in  a  bottomless  pit' ;  that  they  should 
promptly  acquaint  each  other  of  any  tidings  of  danger;  that  neither 

39 


should  harm  the  other  nor  his  creatures;  that  where  either  injured  the 
other,  satisfaction  should  be  made  and  the  wrong  forgotten;  and  that 
both  Christians  and  Indians  should  acquaint  their  children  with  this 
"league  and  firm  chain  of  friendship  made  between  them,  and  that  it 
should  always  be  made  stronger  and  stronger,  and  be  kept  bright  and 
clean,  without  rust  or  spot,  between  our  children  and  our  children's 
children,  while  the  creeks  and  rivers  run,  and  while  the  sun,  moon  and 
stars  endure." 

Benjamin  West,  whose  painting  of  the  Great  Treaty  is  famous, 
has  left  us  an  interesting  account  of  the  loving  care  with  which  the 
old  elm  was  guarded,  long  years  after  that  occasion. 

"This  tree,"  he  writes,  "to  which  I  well  remember,  about  the  year 
1755,  when  a  boy,  often  resorting  with  my  school-fellows,  was  in  some 
danger  during  the  American  War,  when  the  British  possessed  the 
country,  from  parties  sent  out  in  search  for  wood  for  firing,  but  the 
Jate  General  Simcoe  ordered  a  guard  of  British  soldiers  to  protect  it 
from  the  axe." 

It  spite  of  precautions,  however,  the  grand  old  tree  did  not  remain 
many  years  longer  to  serve  as  a  shrine  for  patriots,  but  was  blown 
down  in  1810,  though  one  cannot  help  regretting  that  it  did  not  sur- 
vive another  century. 

Judge  Peters,  a  friend  of  Washington,  wrote  the  following  lines 
in  honor  of  the  old  elm: 

"Let  each  take  a  relic  from  that  hallowed  tree, 
Which  like  Penn,  whom  it  shaded,  immortal  shall  be; 
As  the  pride  of  our  forests,  let  elms  be  renowned, 
For  the  justly-prized  virtues  with  which  they  abound. 
Though  time  has  devoted  our  tree  to  decay, 
The  sage  lessons  it  witnessed  survive  to  our  day; 
May  our  trustworthy  statesmen,  when  called  to  the  helm, 
Ne'er  forget  the  wise  treaty  held  under  the  elm." 

DESCENDANTS  OF  THE  PENN  TREATY  ELM 
GENERAL  OLIVER'S  TREE 

When  the  land  where  the  Treaty  Elm  had  stood,  came  into  the 
possession  of  General  Paul  A.  Oliver's  ancestors,  a  shoot  was  dis- 
covered springing  up  from  the  old  tree's  roots.  This  was  transplanted 
to  Bay  Ridge,  N.  Y.,  where  it  flourished  until  after  fifty  years  it  had 
almost  reached  the  size  of  the  parent  tree.  Then  the  General  removed 
it  to  his  home  at  Wilkes-Barre,  Penn.,  where  it  has  continued  to 
thrive. 

On  Arbor  Day,  April  10,  1896,  a  shoot  from  General  Oliver's 
tree  was  planted  on  the  campus  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia,  by  Governor  Hastings  of  that  State,  in  honor  of  Wil- 
liam Penn,  first  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  tiny  sapling 
grew  into  a  healthy  tree  which  has  rounded  out  its  first  quarter 
century.  It  is  one  of  the  youngest  of  the  Great  Elm's  descendants. 

Another  scion  of  the  old  tree  stands  on  the  grounds  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  Philadelphia,  and  yet  another  in  the  yard  of  the 

40 


Friends'  Meeting,  in  Twelfth  Street,  in  the  same  city,  silent  witnesses 
to  the  memory  of  the  Great  Treaty,  which  Voltaire  described  as  the 
only  agreement  "between  the  Christians  and  the  Indians  that  was 
never  sworn  to  and  never  broken." 


41 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Markham  Elm— The  Wethersfeld  Elm— A  "Great  Elm"  of  West 
Virginia — The  Neenah  Council  Tree — The  Seneca  Council  Tree — 
The  Elm  of  Italy  Hollow — The  Fort  Howard  Elm — The  Franklin 
Elm— The  Kingsport  Elm— The  Oberlin  Elm— The  Washington 
Elm, 

THE  MARKHAM  ELM 

This  great  tree,  believed  to  have  lived  through  six  centuries, 
stands  on  the  Markham  estate  two  miles  north  of  Avon,  N.  Y.  It  is 
an  elm  of  the  variety  known  as  weeping;  that  is,  its  long,  graceful 
branches,  used  as  swings  by  the  boys  and  girls  of  pioneer  times,  once 
hung  in  graceful  festoons  to  the  ground. 

Its  trunk  measured  forty  feet  around,  its  height  was  in  propor- 
tion, and  as  its  shade  covered  an  acre,  the  immense  elm  possessed  great 
beauty.  The  Indians  of  Western  New  York  held  it  in  great  venera- 
tion and  made  the  spot  a  favorite  camping-ground.  It  also  served 
as  a  resting-place  for  the  early  missionaries,  scouts  and  traders. 

William  Markham,  great-grandfather  of  the  present  owner  of 
the  estate,  is  said  to  have  first  seen  the  old  elm  in  1764,  while  on  a 
mission  to  the  Seneca  Indians.  In  1794,  his  son  purchased  the  farm, 
which  has  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  family  ever  since.  More 
than  half  a  century  ago,  the  old  tree  was  accidentally  set  on  fire, 
according  to  one  story,  by  a  party  of  sportsmen;  this  is  related  to 
have  occurred  during  a  January  thaw,  so  that  the  high  water  sur- 
rounding the  elni  prevented  anyone  going  near  enough  to  extinguish 
the  blaze,  which  consequently  injured  the  trunk  fatally. 

Decay  set  in,  and  progressed,  so  that  when  the  Chief  of  the  Divi- 
sion of  Forestry,  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  at  Washington, 
wished  a  cross-section  of  the  trunk  for  exhibition  at  the  World's  Fair 
in  Chicago,  it  was  impossible  to  comply  with  his  request.  About  this 
time,  part  of  the  trunk  caved  in,  leaving  a  space  through  which  a  span 
of  horses  could  be  driven.  In  1893,  the  north  side  of  the  huge  tree 
blew  down;  this  portion  was  sawed  across,  and  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  rings  of  annual  growth  were  counted.  An  estimate  of 
the  age  of  the  part  that  had  decayed  near  the  centre  of  the  tree,  placed 
its  years  at  six  hundred. 

Still,  the  veteran  elm  had  not  lost  its  vitality;  in  the  spring  of 
1920,  after  bursting  into  leaf,  and  then  losing  every  one  through  an 
onslaught  of  canker  worms,  it  rallied  bravely  and  in  a  few  weeks  was 
once  more  in  full  foliage. 

What  tales,  if  its  old  trunk  could  talk, 
Would  fall  upon  the  listening  ear, 
Of  the   wild  wolf  upon  his  walk, 
The  red-man  with  his  spear. 

42 


It  towered  the  giant  of  the  wood, 

In  a  rich  robe  of  emerald  drest, 
When  launched  upon  the  ocean  flood, 

Columbus  sought  the  west. 

It  braved  old  winter's  rudest  shock 

When  the  storm-fiends  their  trumpets  blew, 

When  on  stern  Plymouth's  hallowed  rock 
Landed  the  May-Flower's  crew. 

It  was  the  forest's  pride,  when  came 

The  Norsemen,  borne  grey  ocean  o'er, 

And  the  Round  Tower,  long  known  to  fame, 
Built  on  New  England's  shore, 

Within  its  hollow  trunk  are  seen 

The  smoky,  blackened  marks  of  fire, 
Though  in  its  top  of  loving  green 

The  wind  still  tunes  its  lyre. 

THE  WETHERSEIELD  ELM 

A  fine  old  elm  in  the  town  of  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  is  noted  both 
for  its  great  size  and  its  historic  associations.  It  is  the  only  surviving 
member  of  a  group  of  elms  which  figured  in  the  early  history  of  the 
locality,  and  were,  therefore,  landmarks  of  special  interest. 

The  "wave  of  enthusiasm  for  civic  beautification"  which  swept 
through  the  towns  and  villages  of  Connecticut  during  the  17th  cen- 
tury, is  thought  to  have  resulted  in  the  placing  of  a  row  of  these 
splendid  shade  trees  down  the  centre  of  many  a  village  street,  and  it  is 
believed  that  the  "Great  Elm"  as  it  is  called,  was  planted  at  that 
time. 

Rising  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  ten  feet,  its  branches 
spreading  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet,  it  is  considered  by  many 
to  be  the  largest  tree  east  of  Yellowstone  Park.  Measurements  taken 
around  its  roots  show  a  circumference  of  forty -one  feet. 

During  his  tour  of  the  colonies,  Charles  Wesley  preached  under 
the  old  elm  in  1750,  making  the  spot  a  memorable  one  in  the  religious 
history  of  the  country. 

This  tree  has  been  more  fortunate  than  many  of  its  contempories 
in  receiving  the  watchful  care  necessary  to  preserve  it  to  attain  a 
great  age. 

A  "GREAT  ELM"  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA 

About  sixteen  miles  north  of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  the  birthplace 
of  General  Stonewall  Jackson,  stood,  until  1910,  another  tree  bearing 
the  title  of  "Great  Elm."  Also  famed  for  its  size,  it  was  awarded  a 
prize  as  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  At  the  ground 
level,  including  the  spread  of  its  roots,  it  measured  forty-two  feet  in 
circumference,  three  feet  above  the  ground,  its  trunk  was  twenty- 
seven  feet  around;  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  its  branches 
reached  over  a  circle  of  one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  This  tree  is 
commemorated  in  Mr.  Granville  Davissen  Hall's  stirring  novel,  "The 

From  poem  by  W.  H.  C.  Hosmer. 

43 


Daughter  of  the  Elm."  This  story  deals  with  events  that  occurred 
just  prior  to  the  Civil  War,  and  relates  the  doings  of  a  band  of 
robbers  that  terrorized  the  surrounding  country,  using  the  Great  Elm 
as  their  rendezvous. 

THE  NEENAH  COUNCIL  TREE 

A  noted  Council  Tree  or  Treaty  Elm  of  immense  size,  stood  until 
1890,  on  the  point  of  land  that  juts  out  into  Lake  Winnebago  from 
the  inlet  of  Fox  River,  at  Neenah,  Wis.  Large  enough  to  be  seen 
at  a  long  distance,  it  served  as  a  guide-post  to  pilots  on  the  lake. 
Beneath  its  branches,  the  conversation  well  known  in  the  history  of 
the  State,  is  believed  to  have  occurred,  between  Four  Legs,  a  Winne- 
bago Chief,  and  General  Henry  Leavenworth. 

"When  General  Leavenworth,  some  years  previous  to  1827,  was 
ascending  the  Fox  River  with  troops,  on  his  way  to  the  Mississippi, 
on  arriving  at  this  pass  Four  Legs  came  out,  dressed  in  all  his  gew- 
gaws and  feathers,  and  painted  after  the  most  approved  fashion,  and 
announced  to  the  General  that  he  could  not  go  through;  "the  Lake," 
said  he,  "is  locked." 

"Tell  him,"  said  the  General,  rising  in  his  batteau,  with  a  rifle  in 
his  hand,  "that  THIS  IS  THE  KEY,  and  I  shall  unlock  it  and 
go  on." 

The  chief  had  a  good  deal  of  the  better  part  of  valor  in  his  com- 
position, and  so  he  replied,  "Very  well,  tell  him  he  can  go." 

The  site  where  the  old  elm  stood  for  so  long,  like  a  watchful 
sentinel  guarding  its  domain,  is  now  part  of  Riverside  Park,  at 
Neenah.  A  slab  of  its  wood,  forming  the  top  of  a  large  table  in  the 
historic  log  cabin  of  Governor  Doty,  in  the  vicinity,  is  a  treasured 
souvenir  of  olden  times. 

THE  SENECA  COUNCIL  TREE 

The  Seneca  Indians  possessed  a  noted  Council  Tree,  a  great  elm, 
near  their  village  of  Kanandesaga,  N.  Y.,  the  last  capital  of  their 
nation. 

Besides  sheltering  their  conclaves,  the  old  elm  marked  other- 
wise historic  ground,  for  Kanandesaga  figured  in  the  French  and 
Indian  War  and  the  Revolution,  and  during  the  former  war  the 
English  established  a  fort  here,  thus  securing  the  friendship  and 
assistance  of  the  warriors.  This  relationship  continued  through  the 
Revolution,  even  though  the  Seneca  Chief,  "Big  Tree,"  vowed  friend- 
ship for  Washington  and  went  to  visit  him. 

Later,  Kanandesaga  was  rechristened  Geneva,  and  became  the 
present  city  of  that  name  in  New  York  State. 

THE  ELM  OF  ITALY  HOLLOW 

As  a  result  of  the  State  College  of  Agriculture's  inquiry  con- 
ducted during  1920,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  which  was  the 

44 


largest  tree  in  New  York  State,  the  "Big  Elm"  of  Italy  Hollow,  near 
the  border  of  the  towns  of  Potter  and  Middlesex,  N.  Y.,  carried  off 
the  prize. 

Old  tradition  marks  this  as  a  favorite  Indian  Council  Tree,  and 
the  only  member  of  the  primeval  forest  that  escaped  the  pioneer's 
axe,  in  that  locality.  As  its  trunk  measures  thirty-two  feet  in  girth, 
while  it  shades  an  area  of  eight  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  square 
feet,  the  splendid  old  tree  is  fully  entitled  to  the  honor  accorded  it. 
Standing  at  the  junction  of  several  Indian  trails,  it  furnished  an 
accessible  meeting-place  for  the  various  tribes.  While  the  council 
fires  burned,  near  the  Big  Elm,  scouts  stood  on  vigilant  guard  against 
wolves,  bears  and  panthers  that  frequented  the  neighborhood. 

THE  FORT  HOWARD  ELM 

This  elm  occupies  the  site  of  the  first  permanent  fortification  in 
Wisconsin,  and  represents  two  hundred  years  of  the  history  of  the 
region  under  the  rule,  in  turn,  of  France,  Great  Britain  an3  the 
United  States.  The  date  of  the  building  of  the  first  fort  is  unknown, 
but  was  probably  about  1718. 

The  history  of  this  post  was  practically  the  history  of  the  State 
during  the  French  regime.  Around  the  fort  were  waged  the  Fox 
Indian  Wars.  It  was  also  a  popular  trading  post,  and  was  a  centre 
for  the  dishonest  dealing  that  led  to  the  overthrow  of  French  rule  in 
America. 

The  British,  in  1761,  occupied  and  rebuilt  the  post,  christening 
it  Fort  Edward  Augustus.  After  Pontiac's  conspiracy  in  1763,  the 
garrison  was  permanently  withdrawn  and  not  replaced  until  after  the 
War  of  v!812.  In  August,  1816,  the  United  States  occupied  this 
place  with  a  strong  garrison,  and  built  the  military  post  named  Fort 
Howard.  This  was  almost  continually  garrisoned  until  1852,  when 
the  need  for  martial  protection  ceased.  The  garrison  was  at  that  time 
removed,  the  land  and  buildings  were  sold,  and  but  few  reminders 
are  left  of  the  historic  importance  of  Fort  Howard,  save  the  old  elm 
tree.  This  stands  just  south  of  where  stood  the  commanding  officer's 
quarters,  which  were  occupied  by  several  men  noted  in  American 
history.  Probably  the  best  known  of  the  American  commandants 
was  Major  Zachary  Taylor,  who  afterwards  became  President  of  the 
United  States. 

THE  FRANKLIN  ELM 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  known  as  the  "City  of  Elms,"  possessed  for 
many  years  a  fine  specimen  known  as  the  Franklin  Elm  because  it 
chanced  to  be  set  out  on  April  17,  1790,  the  day  that  the  great  man 
died.  The  story  of  the  tree's  entry  into  the  town  where  it  has  so  long 
been  a  famous  landmark,  is  rather  an  unusual  one. 

Long  before  the  days  of  Prohibition,  Jerry  Allen,  whose  home 
was  at  Hamden,  a  few  miles  from  New  Haven,  arrived  in  the  latter 

45 


town,  carrying  the  elm  on  his  back.  Having  no  money,  with  which 
to  purchase  his  favorite  beverage,  rum,  he  traded  the  young  tree  in 
exchange  for  a  pint,  to  Thaddeus  Beecher,  who  kept  a  tavern  where 
the  Exchange  Building  of  New  Haven  now  stands. 

Beecher  at  once  planted  the  tree  on  the  village  green  or  public 
square,  which  had  been  allowed  to  remain  exactly  as  it  was  laid  out 
in  1639.  Serving  in  its  early  days,  and  at  the  time  the  elm  was 
planted,  as  a  market,  public  pig-pen,  and  place  for  watering  cattle, 
the  historic  green  is,  today,  in  the  centre  of  the  busy  city,  with  which 
the  tall,  spreading  elm  has  so  long  been  identified. 

THE  KINGSPORT  ELM 

On  Kingsport  Farms,  at  Kingsport,  Sullivan  County,  Tenn.,  is 
a  splendid  old  elm,  with  a  spring  issuing  from  its  roots,  in  all  proba- 
bility the  tree  described  by  a  party  of  Frenchmen  who  camped  in  the 
neighborhood  in  1790.  It  answers  their  description  well,  even  to  the 
spring  that  bubbles  up  beneath  it. 

Its  circumference,  which  is  mentioned  as  being  twenty-two  feet, 
has  increased  to  twenty-five  and  one-half  feet,  and  its  age  is  estimated 
at  more  than  400  years.  Directly  back  of  the  old  elm  is  the  remains 
of  one  of  the  first  silk  mills  in  the  south,  perhaps  in  the  whole  country. 

THE  OBERLIN  ELM 

The  elm  on  the  college  campus  at  Oberlin,  O.,  which  has  been 
fenced  about  and  marked  with  a  bronze  tablet,  shaded  the  first  log 
house  built  in  Oberlin.  -This  was  erected  in  1833,  and  was  the  begin- 
ning of  Oberlin  College,  the  first  educational  institution  in  the  world 
to  admit  women  on  an  equal  footing  with  men.  Lucy  Stone,  one  of 
the  pioneer  suffragists,  was  a  graduate  of  Oberlin. 

THE  WASHINGTON 

One  of  the  most  famous  trees  in  the  whole  country  is  this  elm  at 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  under  whose  "branches  Washington  took  com- 
mand of  the  Continental  Army  on  July  3,  1875.  It  is  thought  to  be 
a  survivor  of  the  primeval  forest  that  once  covered  the  region,  and 
in  its  youth  was  nearly  100  feet  in  height,  while  the  spread  of  its 
branches  measured  90  feet. 

On  Nov.  30,  1864,  the  City  Council  decreed  that  "the  committee 
on  Public  Property  cause  a  suitable  tablet  of  durable  material,  either 
granite,  marble  or  iron  to  be  placed  on  the  Washington  Elm  in  Ward 
1,  said  tablet  to  commemorate  in  conspicuous  letters  the  Revolutionary 
event  which  rendered  said  tree  historical." 

A  large  branch  fell  from  the  elm  in  1872,  and  was  used  to  make 
a  pulpit  in  a  chapel  nearby.  Since  that  time,  the  old  tree  has  gradually 
succumbed  to  the  attacks  of  insects  and  though  still  standing,  has  lost 
much  of  its  original  beauty. 

46 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Frye  Elm — The  Logan  Elm — Old  Elm  Tree  Corner — Elm  of  the 
Colony  of  Transylvania — Daniel  Boone's  Judgment  Tree — Con- 
stitutional Elm  of  Indiana — The  Morse  Elm — The  Tappan  Elm. 

THE  FRYE  ELM 

In  1725,  Jonathan  Frye,  who  had  graduated  from  Harvard  two 
years  before,  left  his  home  in  North  Andover,  Mass.,  to  serve  under 
Captain  Lovewell,  the  famous  Indian  fighter.  The  party  was  bound 
for  the  wilds  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  young  Frye  went 
along  as  chaplain.  Before  going  away,  he  planted  an  elm  in  front 
of  his  uncle,  Col.  James  Frye's  house  at  North  Andover,  charging 
the  family  to  take  good  care  of  it  during  his  absence. 

The  tree  lived  to  bear,  for  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  a 
family  name  of  note,  Jonathan  being  a  connection  of  Elizabeth  Frye 
of  England,  the  great  prison  reformer.  He  never  returned  to  see  his 
elm,  and  his  fate  was  never  known,  though  easily  surmised.  He 
received  honorable  mention  in  the  story  of  the  much  famed  battle  with 
the  Indians  at  Pequawket,  where,  with  other  unfortunates,  he  was 
left  in  the  woods,  badly  wounded.  The  elm  of  his  planting  flourished, 
and  descendants  of  the  Frye  family  have  come  from  far  to  visit  it. 

The  only  pieces  of  the  old  elm  known  to  be  still  in  existence,  are 
a  frame  containing  the  original  copy  of  the  Frye  Coat  of  Arms,  owned 
by  Miss  E.  Frye  Barker,  of  New  York,  historian  of  the  family;  and 
the  frame  of  the  steel  engraving  from  which  the  accompanying  cut  was 
made.  This  engraving  has  been  presented  by  Miss  Barker  to  the 
New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society. 

THE  LOGAN  ELM 

One  of  the  valued  landmarks  of  Pickaway  County,  O.,  is  the 
fine  old  tree  about  seven  miles  from  Circleville,  known  as  the  Logan 
Elm.  Under  its  branches  the  Mingo  Chief,  whose  name  it  bears, 
made  his  famous  speech  which  Thomas  Jefferson  later  incorporated 
in  his  "Notes  On  Virginia,"  pronouncing  it  equal  to  any  passage  in 
the  writings  of  Demosthenes  or  Cicero. 

Logan,  one  of  whose  names  was  Tah-gah-jute,  meaning  "short 
dress,"  was  also  christened  in  honor  of  James  Logan,  Penn's  Secre- 
tary, who  was  a  great  friend  of  the  Indian  boy's  father,  Skikellimus. 
This  chief  was  always  friendly  to  the  white  men,  entertaining  the  first 
Moravian  missionaries  in  the  section  of  Pennsylvania  about  his  home, 
and  conducting  many  negotiations  between  James  Logan  and  the 
native  tribes. 

Brought  up  in  this  peaceable  atmosphere,  his  son  followed  in  his 
footsteps,  earning  the  title  of  "Friend  of  the  White  Man";  it  was 

47 


not  till  the  last  years  of  his  life  that  he  became  hostile,  and  then  only 
in  revenge  for  sorrow  caused  by  the  murder  of  his  relatives. 

He  was  living  in  Ohio  at  the  time  of  "that  bloody  perlude  to  the 
Revolution,"  the  Dunmore  War,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  exterm- 
inate the  Indians  of  that  region.  The  noted  Chief,  Cornstalk,  aware 
that  hostilities  had  advanced  too  far  to  remain  unnoticed,  requested 
that  a  council  should  be  called,  and  as  Lord  Dunmore's  troops  ap- 
proached, a  white  man  named  Elliott  was  sent  to  meet  them,  carrying 
a  flag  of  truce.  He  asked  for  someone  who  could  understand  the 
Indian  language. 

Colonel  John  Gibson  returned  with  him  to  Camp  Charlotte,  on 
Scippo  Creek,  and  found  Cornstalk  waiting,  in  company  with  eight 
other  chiefs  and  five  hundred  warriors.  Though  probably  desiring 
peace,  they  had  painted  their  faces  half  black  and  half  red,  to  show 
their  indifference. 

In  spite  of  all  persuasion,  Logan,  embittered  by  his  losses,  refused 
to  attend  the  council.  According  to  Colonel  Gibson's  sworn  state- 
ment, however,  the  chief  met  him,  and  they  walked  together  into  the 
woods,  and  sat  on  a  log  under  the  old  elm.  Captain  Williamson,  one 
of  Dunmore's  soldiers,  identified  the  tree  as  the  exact  spot  where  the 
words  were  spoken  which  have  become  celebrated  as  "Logan's 
Speech." 

"I  appeal  to  any  white  man  to  say  if  he  ever  entered  Logan's 
cabin,  hungry,  and  he  gave  them  not  meat;  if  he  ever  came  cold  and 
naked,  and  he  clothed  him  not?  During  the  course  of  the  last  long 
and  bloody  war,  Logan  remained  idle  in  his  camp,  an  advocate  for 
peace.  Such  was  my  love  for  the  whites  that  my  countrymen  pointed 
as  I  passed,  and  said,  'Logan  is  the  friend  of  the  white  man,'  I  had 
ever  thought  to  have  lived  with  you  but  for  the  injuries  of  one  man. 
Colonel  Cresap,  the  last  spring,  in  cold  blood  and  unprovoked,  mur- 
dered all  the  relations  of  Logan,  not  even  sparing  my  women  and 
children.  There  runs  not  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  the  veins  of  any 
living  creature.  This  called  on  me  for  vengeance.  I  have  sought  it. 
I  have  killed  many.  I  have  fully  glutted  my  vengeance.  For  my 
country  I  rejoice  at  the  beams  of  peace;  but  don't  harbor  a  thought 
that  mine  is  the  joy  of  fear.  Logan  never  felt  fear. 

"He  will  not  turn  on  his  heel  to  save  his  life.  Who  is  there  to 
mourn  for  Logan?  Not  one." 

On  October  2,  1912,  the  old  elm  was  presented  by  residents  of 
Pickaway  County  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  be  cared  for  and  preserved 
as  an  historic  relic. 

The  tree  measures  seven  feet  in  circumference,  and  the  spread 
of  its  branches  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Specialists  haye  put  it 
in  fine  condition,  and  it  is  protected  by  an  iron  railing,  and  bids  fair 
to  remain  for  many  a  year  to  come,  as  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  the  Indian  Chief,  Logan,  of  whom  it  was  said  by  his  friend,  Judge 
Brown,  "He  was  the  best  specimen  of  humanity,  white  or  red,  I  have 
ever  encountered." 

48 


OLD  ELM  TREE  CORNER 

A  tablet  at  the  northwest  corner  of  State  and  Pearl  Streets, 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  bears  this  inscription: 

"Old  Elm  Tree  Corner.  So  named  from  a  tree  planted  here  by 
Philip  Livingston  about  1735.  Removed  1877.  Also  the  site  upon 
which  were  published  Webster's  famous  reading,  spelling  book  and 
almanac,  and  the  first  Albany  newspaper,  the  Albany  Gazette,  1771." 

A  picture  of  the  Old  Elm  hangs  in  the  Albany  Institute,  Histor- 
ical and  Art  Society  Building. 

The  spot  has  also  been  celebrated  by  W.  D.  Morange,  in  the 
following  lines: 

"It  don't  appear  that  the  Old  Elm  Tree 
Was  a  slippery  elm,  you  know; 
But  nevertheless  it  will  doubtless  be 
Set  down  in  the  records  so. 

When  the  snow  congeals  on  the  slanting  grade, 
Where  the  Elm  Tree  went  to  rot, 
And  scores  of  broken  heads  have  made 
Their  mark  on  the  sacred  spot, 

That  place  of  broken  skulls  will  be 
By  many  a  frantic  mourner, 
Set  down  in  the  town  geography, 
As  the  'Slippery  Elm  Tree  Corner'." 

ELM  OF  THE  COLONY  or  TRANSYLVANIA 

In  the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  Kentucky  was  an  unknown 
land  to  the  white  men.  In  1760,  John  Finley  and  a  few  acquaint- 
ances made  their  way  into  the  unexplored  territory,  and  brought  back 
with  them  glowing  accounts  of  the  beauties  and  fertility  of  the  lands 
there.  Daniel  Boone  accompanied  him  on  a  second  expedition,  and  on 
returning,  interested  Colonel  Richard  Henderson,  a  young  lawyer  of 
North  Carolina,  in  the  wonderful  region  beyond  the  mountains.  Much 
pleased  with  what  he  heard,  Henderson  conceived  the  idea  of  forming 
the  Transylvania  Company,  to  purchase  a  large  tract  of  the  land,  and 
plant  a  colony  of  which  he  should  be  proprietor,  selling  titles  to  the 
settlers. 

Daniel  Boone  had  been  selected  to  cut  through  the  wilderness  a 
highway  over  which  emigration  could  pass  to  Transylvania,  and  on 
March  10,1775,  set  out  with  about  thirty  men  toward  Cumberland 
Gap,  blazing  the  way  on  "mile-trees,"  and  following  the  course  of  the 
"Warriors'  Path,"  a  famous  Indian  Trail  between  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky, which  near  the  Gap,  formed  a  link  in  the  great  war  path  from 
north  to  south. 

On  March  25,  the  little  band  camped  at  Silver  Creek,  where  they 
were  attacked  by  Indians,  who  killed  one  of  their  number;  but  fifteen 
miles  further  on,  they  reached  the  place  previously  selected  by  Boone 
and  Henderson  for  their  new  home.  Here  they  camped,  on  a  plain, 
beautiful  with  white  clover  and  Kentucky  "blue  grass."  Two  springs 

49 


were  nearby,  and  also  four  huge  trees,  three  sycamores,  and  a  great 
elm  with  which  Colonel  Henderson  was  much  impressed:  He  said, 
"The  diameter  of  its  branches  from  the  extreme  ends  is  one  hundred 
feet,  and  every  fair  day  it  describes  a  semicircle  on  the  heavenly  green 
around  it,  of  upward  of  four  hundred  feet,  and  any  time  between  the 
hours  of  ten  and  two,  one  hundred  persons  may  commodiously  seat 
themselves  under  its  branches.  This  divine  tree  is  to  be  our  Church, 
State  House  and  Council  Chamber." 

The  convention  of  the  "House  of  Delegates  of  the  Colony  of 
Transylvania"  did  meet  under  the  elm  on  the  23rd  of  May,  1775.  It 
was  in  session  for  three  days,  passing  nine  bills.  "Henderson  received 
full  possession  of  the  land  from  the  Cherokees,"  as  Boone's  bio- 
grapher, Lucile  Gulliver,  tells  us,  "according  to  a  pretty,  ancient 
custom.  The  lawyer  representing  the  Indians,  handed  Henderson  a 
piece  of  Kentucky  turf,  and  together  they  held  it  while  the  lawyer 
declared  the  transaction  completed." 

While  in  all  probability,  the  old  elm  might  well  have  survived  up 
to  the  present  time,  no  historical  association  is  on  record  as  having 
preserved  it,  or  marked  its  site.  It  would  have  been  a  picturesque  and 
valued  memorial  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  sites  of  pioneer  days. 

DANIEL  BOONE'S  JUDGMENT  TREE 

On  June  11,  1800,  Colonel  Boone  was  appointed  commandant 
of  the  Femme  Osage  (Missouri)  District. 

*  "It  was  about  this  time,  or  perhaps  a  little  earlier,  that  he  built 
the  cabin  near  the  spring  in  the  Femme  Osage  Valley  and  removed 
his  family  there.  The  duties  of  his  office  were  both  civil  and  military, 
and  his  decision  in  all  cases  was  final,  excepting  those  involving  land 
titles,  which  were  referred  to  the  crown  or  its  immediate  representa- 
tive. Punishment  for  crime  or  misdemeanor  was  of  the  most  summary 
character.  The  accused,  if  proven  guilty,  was  tied  up  and  whipped, 
the  number  of  lashes  being  proportioned  to  the  nature  of  his  offense. 
A  hickory  sapling  that  stood  in  the  yard  near  the  spring  served  as  a 
whipping  post.  That  kind  of  punishment  met  the  requirement  of  the 
age,  and  no  thief  or  breaker  of  the  law  was  ever  known  to  resent  a 
judgment  rendered  by  Daniel  Boone.  He  held  his  court  under  the 
spreading  branches  of  a  large  elm  tree,  which  still  stands  on  the  bank 
a  few  feet  above  the  spring  and  is  known  as  "Daniel  Boone's  Judg- 
ment Tree." 

CONSTITUTIONAL  ELM  OF  INDIANA 

Under  the  spreading  boughs  of  an  elm  at  Corydon,  first  capital 
of  Indiana,  the  Constitution  of  that  State  was  adopted,  nearly  a 
century  ago. 

*  Extract  from  article  by  William  S.  Bryan  in  the  Missouri  Historical  Review. 

50 


"When  Benjamin  Douglass  was  the  State  Entomologist  in 
1910,"  says  E.  M.  Herschell,  "he  sent  men  from  his  office  to  Corydon, 
and  the  cavities  in  the  historic  tree  were  cleaned  and  then  filled  with 
concrete,  much  as  a  dentist  fills  a  decayed  tooth.  The  result  of  this 
treatment  has  been  that  the  constitutional  elm  has  taken  on  new  vigor 
and  probably  will  live  through  generations  to  tell  its  story  of  the 
pioneer  upbuilding  of  a  great  state.  Cory  don's  other  historic  treas- 
ure, Indiana's  first  capitol,  still  is  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 

An  effort  has  been  made  to  give  the  Statehouse  Grounds  in  Indi- 
anapolis historic  setting  with  trees,  but  the  plan  has  not  proved 
successful  because  of  the  apparent  refusal  of  trees  to  grow  in  the 
Statehouse  Yard.  Shortly  after  the  present  state  capitol  was  occupied 
it  became  a  custom  of  the  Governors  to  plant  a  tree  representative  of 
their  administration.  These  trees,  mostly  maples,  have  been  scattered 
over  the  grounds,  but  it  is  a  sad  fact  that  only  a  few  have  survived." 

THE  MORSE  ELM 

One  of  the  first  trees  to  be  given  a  place  in  the  Hall  of  Fame  for 
Trees  of  the  American  Forestry  Association,  was  the  famous  Morse 
Elm  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Standing  at  the  corner  of  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  and  Fourteenth  Street,  it  has  looked  down  upon  every  inaug- 
ural parade  held  in  the  national  capital,  and  was  one  of  the  city's 
oldest  landmarks,  though  owing  to  decay,  it  has  been  removed. 

The  tree  was  named  for  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  who  often  sat 
beneath  it,  talking  to  interested  listeners  of  his  wonderful  invention, 
the  telegraph.  Groups  of  politicians  were  also  to  be  seen  discussing 
affairs  of  State  in  its  shade. 

When  the  Morse  Elm  was  felled,  its  trunk  was  presented  to  the 
American  Forestry  Association. 

THE  TAPPAN  ELM 

At  Tappan,  N.  Y.,  near  the  quaint  little  house  that  served  as 
Washington's  headquarters,  stands  an  elm  that  is  associated  with 
Revolutionary  days.  When,  in  1783,  arrangements  were  made  for 
the  evacuation  of  New  York  by  the  British,  and  the  exchange  of 
prisoners,  a  small  tar  barrel  was  hoisted  up  on  a  limb  of  the  tree  and 
set  on  fire,  as  a  signal  that  the  much  desired  end  had  been  'accomp- 
lished. It  is  said  that  the  flames  were  visible  on  Manhattan  Island, 
about  twenty  miles  away.  The  De  Wint  house,  a  residence  close  by 
the  elm,  is  believed  to  have  been  the  meeting-place,  where  the  papers 
necessary  to  the  transaction  were  drawn  up. 

Only  a  few  blocks  north  of  the  old  tree  stands  the  "  '76  House," 
where  Major  Andre  was  imprisoned  just  before  his  execution,  and 
the  old  Dutch  Reformed  Church  where  his  trial  took  place.  The 
monument  erected  to  his  memory  is  in  the  town  of  Tappan. 


51 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  Roosevelt  Sugar  Maple — The  Sugar  Maple  and  the  Indians — 
Early  Mention  of  the  Sugar  Maple — The  Sugar  Maple  and  the 
Abolitionists. 

THE  ROOSEVELT  SUGAR  MAPLE 

A  splendid  sugar  maple,  in  the  Glenview  Forest  Reserve,  five 
miles  due  west  of  Evanston,  Illinois,  was  during  the  year  1820  chris- 
tened in  honor  of  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

It  stands  in  a  region  of  "virgin  timber,"  forest  land  on  which 
no  living  tree  has  ever  been  felled,  and  is  the  senior,  by  several  hundred 
years,  of  its  comrades,  though  all  around  it  stand  maples  and  oaks 
that  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  five  hundred  years  old.  According 
to  prominent  botanists,  the  age  of  the  Roosevelt  Tree  may  be  safely 
estimated  at  one  thousand  years.  Other  tree  experts  say  that  it  is  at 
least  not  younger  than  seven  hundred  years.  Its  trunk  measures  nine 
feet,  at  breast  height,  and  shows  a  clean  bole  up  to  fifty  feet  above 
the  ground.  Growing  in  dense  timber,  it  is,  of  course,  slim  for  its 
height.  This  tree,  which  will  doubtless  live  to  acquire  fame,  both  on 
account  of  its  title  and  its  great  age,  is  a  worthy  representative  of  the 
sugar  maples  of  America,  trees  that  are  distinctively  characteristic 
of  this  country,  and  that  have  played  an  important  part  in  the  every- 
day life  of  its  early  settlements. 

THE  SUGAR  MAPLE  AND  THE  INDIANS 

It  has  been  said  that  "If  trees  had  human  characteristics,  the 
sugar  maple  would  be  the  banker  of  the  forest  community  because  of 
its  store  of  wealth.  It  is  a  conservative,  dignified,  well-dressed  tree, 
conscientious,  hardworking  and  dependable."  The  Indians  appre- 
ciated its  usefulness,  and  taught  the  earliest  white  pioneers  on  the 
shores  of  the  Hudson,  and  in  New  England  and  the  Middle  States, 
to  extract  the  sugar.  They  probably  relied  upon  it  for  their  entire 
supply  of  sweetening.  It  was  also  found  possible  to  produce  the  flow 
by  applying  heat,  and  so  procure  sugar  needed  in  case  of  sickness. 

According  to  Baron  de  la  Hontan,  who  traveled  in  America  from 
1684  to  1695,  the  "liquor  is  drawn  by  cutting  the  tree  two  inches  deep 
in  the  wood,  the  cut  being  run  sloping  to  the  length  of  ten  or  twelve 
inches  ....  a  knif e  is  run  into  the  tree  slopingly,  so  that  the  water 
running  along  the  cut  or  gash  as  through  a  gutter,  and  falling  upon 
the  knife  that  lies  across  the  channel,  runs  out  upon  the  knife  which 
has  vessels  plac'd  underneath  to  receive  it.  The  gash  do's  no  harm 
to  the  tree.  Of  this  sap  they  make  sugar  and  syrup  which  is  so 
valuable  that  there  can't  be  a  better  remedy  for  fortifying  the 

52 


stomach."    The  Baron  also  considered  that  the  maple  sap  possessed 
"a  much  pleasanter  taste  than  the  best  lemonade  or  cherry-water." 

The  sap  was  collected  into  troughs,  by  the  squaws,  and  hot  stones 
were  plunged  into  it,  and  this  process  was  continued  until  the  sugar 
had  boiled  down  to  the  desired  consistency.  The  Baron  saw  two 
kinds  of  maples  tapped;  the  black  or  hard,  and  the  white  or  soft 
maple;  "the  former  makes  infinitely  the  best  grained  and  flavored 
sugar,  and  fully  equal  in  quality  to  the  best  Muscovado." 

The  Indians  mixed  maple  sugar  with  melted  bear's  fat  and  made 
sauce  for  their  roast  venison ;  they  used  it  to  sweeten  boiled  corn,  and 
the  parched  corn  which  they  carried  with  them  on  journeys.  The 
Iroquois  Indians  called  the  Algonkians  "ratirontaks,"  "tree-eaters," 
on  account  of  their  fondness  for  sugar.  There  is  an  Algonkian  legend 
that  explains  why  maple  sap  runs  so  thin  instead  of  being  thick  like 
syrup  as  it  was  originally. 

One  day,  Nokomis,  the  grandmother  of  Manabush,  was  roaming 
through  the  forest,  and  by  accident  cut  the  bark  of  a  tree.  Seeing 
a  rich  syrup  flow  slowly  from  the  wound,  she  tasted  it,  and  delighted 
at  finding  it  so  delicious,  gave  some  to  Manabush.  He  also  was  much 
pleased  with  the  new  sweet-meat,  but  felt  afraid  that  if  the  women  of 
the  tribe  found  the  syrup  could  be  obtained  so  easily,  all  ready-made 
as  it  were,  they  would  become  idle.  So,  in  order  to  keep  his  aunts 
busy,  he  diluted  the  sap,  making  it  thin,  as  we  know  it,  by  pouring 
water  over  the  tops  of  the  trees.  This  is  why  the  women  must  boil 
down  the  sap  to  make  syrup. 

EARLY  MENTION  OF  THE  SUGAR  MAPLE 

One  of  the  earliest  references  to  maple  sugar  appears  in  an  issue 
of  the  "Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,"  (England) , 
published  in  1684,  "an  account  of  a  sort  of  sugar  made  of  the  juice  of 
the  maple  in  Canada."  The  writer  tells  us  that  "The  savages  of 
Canada,  in  the  time  that  the  sap  rises  in  the  maple,  make  an  incision 
in  the  tree  by  which  it  runs  out ;  and  after  they  have  evaporated  eight 
pounds  of  the  liquor  there  remains  one  pound  as  sweet  and  as  much 
sugar  as  that  which  is  got  out  of  the  canes.  The  savages  here  have 
practised  this  art  longer  than  any  now  living  among  them  can 
remember." 

Lambert's  "Travels  Through  Canada  and  the  United  States," 
published  in  1813,  mentions  maple  sugar  (evidently  one  of  the  novel- 
ties of  the  New  World),  as  being  very  hard  and  requiring  to  be 
"scraped  with  a  knife  when  used  for  tea,  otherwise  the  lump  would 
be  a  considerable  time  in  dissolving."  Its  flavor  reminded  the  author 
of  the  candied  horehound  sold  in  England,  and  he  added  that  the 
Canadians  ate  large  lumps  of  the  sugar  believing  it  to  act  medicinally. 
"It  very  likely  acts  as  a  corrective  to  the  vast  quantity  of  fat  pork 
which  they  consume,  as  it  possesses  a  greater  degree  of  acidity  than 
the  West  India  sugar.  Before  salt  was  in  use,  sugar  was  eaten  with 

53 


meat  in  order  to  correct  its  putrescencey ;  hence,  probably,  the  custom 
of  eating  sweet  apple  sauce  with  pork  and  goose,  and  currant  jelly 
with  hare  and  venison." 

Among  the  many  plant  specimens  sent  from  the  New  World  by 
the  famous  botanist,  John  Bartram,  to  Peter  Collinson,  of  London, 
England,  were  seeds  of  the  sugar  maple,  which  occasioned  much  com- 
ment, the  tree  being  practically  unknown  in  England.  Collinson  had 
already  written  to  his  "Kind  Friend  John  Bartram,"  (in  1735) : 

"I  am  mightily  pleased  with  thy  account  of  the  Sugar  Tree. 
Pray  send  me  a  little  sprig,  with  two  or  three  leaves  dried  between 
a  sheet  of  paper,  and  if  thee  canst,  the  blossom.  We  imagine,  here  it 
is  a  poplar  or  maple,  but  when  we  see  the  flowers  or  seed-vessel,  we 
shall  soon  determine."  Six  months  later,  having  received  the  speci- 
mens he  wanted,  he  wrote  to  Bartram  again: 

"The  leaves  of  the  Sugar  Tree  are  very  informing,  and  are  a 
great  curiosity;  but  we  wish  thee  had  gathered  little  branches  with 
the  flowers  on  them  and  some  little  branches  with  the  keys  on  them. 
The  seeds  of  this  tree  (which,  by  the  leaves  and  keys  is  a  real  Maple) , 
I  cracked  a  many  of  them,  and  not  one  has  a  kernel  in  them,  which 
I  am  surprised  at.  We  must  desire  thee,  next  year,  to  make  another 
attempt  and  send  us  some  specimens.  Its  bearing  white  blossoms  is 
an  elegance  above  any  other  of  this  tribe  that  I  know  of." 

THE  SU-GAR  MAPLE  AND  THE  ABOLITIONISTS 

One  does  not  naturally  associate  the  sugar  maple  with  anti- 
slavery  agitation,  and  yet  the  hopes  of  earnest  abolitionists,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  or  more  years  ago,  were  centered  in  this  tree. 
As  it  would  yield  so  easily  and  naturally  such  quantities  of  sugar,  there 
seemed  no  further  need  for  importing  this  necessary  article  from  the 
West  Indies,  where  it  was  produced  from  cane  by  the  hard  labor  of 
slaves,  nor  for  allowing  such  a  condition  to  continue  in  the  United 
States. 

Monsieur  J.  P.  Brissot,  who  published  in  1788,  an  account  of  his 
travels  in  America,  was  evidently  much  impressed  with  the  idea.  He 
writes  as  follows:  "Providence,  my  friend,  seems  to  have  placed  in 
the  bosom  of  the  continent  that  slavery  has  sullied  and  tormented  most 
cruelly,  two  great  means  which  ought,  inevitably,  to  work  its  destruc- 
tion, that,  is  the  society  of  which  I  have  spoken  to  you,  and  the  Sugar 
Maple.  .  .  .  The  settlers  established  in  the  middle  of  forests  in 
America,  limit  themselves,  hitherto,  to  a  very  slight  manipulation  to 
get  this  sugar  .  .  .  but  since  the  quakers  have  perceived  in  this  tree  a 
means  of  destroying  the  slave  trade,  since  to  replace  the  cane  sugar 
they  have  felt  the  necessity  of  perfectioning  the  Sugar  Maple,  more 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  manipulation,  and  success  has  crowned 
their  efforts.  You  know,  my  friend,  all  the  conditions  that  are  neces- 
sary to  be  united  for  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar  cane  .  .  .  the  enemies 
and  accidents  that  that  plant  fears  (is  subject  to),  the  labor,  its  culti- 

54 


vation,  its  preparation,  and  its  fabric  costs  to  the  unfortunate  Afri- 
cans. Well !  Compare  these  inconveniences  with  the  advantages  that 
the  Sugar  Maple  presents,  and  you  will  again,  once  more,  be  con- 
vinced what  great  pains  we  often  take  to  be  uselessly  criminal.  .  .  . 
I  wish  there  were  formed  from  north  to  south  a  holy  coalition  to 
accumulate  the  produce  of  that  Divine  Tree,  if  above  all,  it  were 
looked  upon  as  an  impiety  to  destroy  so  useful  a  tree,  either  for  burn- 
ing or  clearing  lands;  America  might  not  only  furnish  for  its  own 
use,  but  might  also  inundate  the  markets  of  Europe  with  a  sugar, 
whose  cheapness  would,  in  time,  annihilate  that  sugar  which  is 
sprinkled  with  the  tears  and  blood  of  slaves,  for  the  Maple  Sugar 
does  not  cost  but  three-pence  the  pound." 

The  trees  were  abundant;  the  celebrated  Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadel- 
phia, writing  as  late  as  1793,  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  Secretary  of  the 
United  States,  (who  permitted  only  maple  sugar  used  in  his  house- 
hold, and  planted  maples  on  his  estate  in  Virginia,  for  the  purpose  of 
producing  it) ,  describes  them  as  covering  "five  or  six  acres  in  a  body, 
more  often  mixed  with  other  trees."  Generally,  there  averaged  from 
thirty  to  fifty  sugar  maples  on  an  acre,  and  residents  of  Pennsylvania 
are  recorded,  as  making  from  two  hundred  to  four  hundred  pounds 
of  sugar  per  year. 

Dr.  Rush  considered  maple  sugar  an  extremely  healthy  article  of 
diet,  and  thought  that  its  use  might  lessen  malignant  fevers.  He 
quotes  Sir  John  Pringle  as  remarking  that  the  plague  had  never  been 
known  in  any  country  where  sugar  was  eaten  in  considerable  quanti- 
ties. However,  there  had  hitherto  been  the  insuperable  difficulty— 
"many  persons  refuse  to  be  benefited,  even  indirectly,  by  the  labour  of 
slaves." 

"I  cannot  help  contemplating  a  Sugar  Maple  with  a  species  of 
affection  and  even  veneration,  for  I  have  persuaded  myself  to  behold 
in  it  the  happy  means  of  rendering  the  commerce  and  slavery  of  our 
African  brethren  in  the  sugar  islands,  as  unnecessary  as  it  has  always 
been  inhuman  and  unjust." 

Tench  Coxe,  of  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  author  of  "A  View  of  the 
United  States"  (published  in  1794),  says  that  the  total  consumption 
of  sugar  and  molasses  in  this  country  at  that  time  amounted  to  twenty- 
six  million  pounds,  and  that  "every  farmer  having  one  hundred  acres 
of  maple  sugar  land  in  a  state  of  ordinary  American  improvement 
.  .  .  can  make  one  thousand  pounds  weight  of  sugar  with  only  his 
necessary  farming  and  kitchen  utensils." 


55 


CHAPTER  X 

Memorial  Trees  of  Spiegel  Grove — Lincoln  Memorial  Tree — Gingko 
Tree  at  Grant's  Tomb — Elms  Planted  by  Royalty— Plantings  by 
President  and  Mrs.  Harding — Lincoln  Memorial  Grounds — Bur- 
roughs Memorial  Forest — Tree  to  Theodore  Roosevelt — Tree  to 
Quentin  Roosevelt — Unusual  Alumnae  Avenue — National  Farm 
School — Memorial  Trees  of  Philadelphia — Tree  to  "Humanity 
Martin" — New  York  State  Memorial  Highway. 

HISTORIC  TREES  IN  THE  MAKING 

The  idea  of  the  tree  as  one  of  the  most  acceptable  memorials  has 
developed  into  the  widespread  custom  of  commemorative  tree  plant- 
ing. Such  memorials  may  be  appropriately  described  as  historic  trees 
in  the  making.  Those  planted  today,  to  quote  from  American  For- 
estry, "will  be  famous  fifty  years  from  now  and  even  more  famous 
in  a  hundred  years." 

MEMORIAL  TREES  or  SPIEGEL  GROVE 

Spiegel  Grove,  Fremont,  O.,  the  home  of  President  Rutherford 
B.  Hayes,  contains  a  rare  collection  of  memorial  trees,  and  is,  itself, 
historic  ground.  It  is  situated  in  the  old  Indian  reservation  which, 
long  before  the  Revolution,  was  established  at  the  lower  rapids  of 
the  Sandusky  River.  The  Harrison  Military  Trail  of  the  War  of 
1812,  the  old  French  and  Indian  route  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio, 
runs  through  the  grove  for  half  a  mile,  and  the  deep  ruts  made  by 
General  Harrison's  wagon  wheels  are  said  to  be  still  visible. 

The  grove  occupies  part  of  the  site  of  the  free  city  of  the  Indian 
tribe  of  the  Eries,  who,  three  hundred  years  ago,  erected  two  fortified 
towns  opposite  each  other,  at  this  point,  on  the  Sandusky.  During 
Revolutionary  days,  Daniel  Boone  and  Simon  Kenton  were  led  pris- 
oners through  the  grove,  along  the  old  trail,  which  long  before  their 
day,  had  been  trodden  by  French  explorers  and  missionaries,  and 
which  is  said  to  have  been  the  route  traveled  by  more  Indian  captives 
than  any  other  trail. 

A  number  of  the  trees  growing  in  this  historic  grove  bear  the 
names  of  Mr.  Hayes'  distinguished  guests.  Five  immense  oaks,  under 
whose  shade  a  table  was  spread  on  the  occasion  of  the  annual  reunion 
of  the  23rd  regiment,  September  14,  1877,  were  christened  in  honor 
of  General  Sheridan  and  four  colonels  of  the  regiment,  who  sat  at 
the  table.  Other  speakers  of  the  day  returned  in  later  years,  and 
their  memory  is  similarly  perpetuated,  as  shown  by  the  naming  of 
the  McKinley  oaks,  the  Chief  Justice  White  oak,  and  the  Garfield 
maple.  On  General  Sherman's  return  from  escorting  Mr.  Hayes  and 
his  party  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  a  particularly  fine  elm  was  given  his 
name. 

V 

56 


ROOSEVELT  TREE 

Immense  Sugar  Maple,  Near  Chicago,  tKougKt  to  be  7oo  $ears  old. 
Courtesy)  of  the  Chicago  American. 


Other  trees  of  interest  in  the  grove  are  two  oaks  that  have  sprung 
from  acorns  of  the  famous  Charter  Oak  of  Connecticut,  also  tulip 
trees  from  James  Madison's  home  in  Virginia  and  the  Cleveland 
hickory.  It  is  related  that  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  William  H.  Taft  was  a  guest  at  the  grove  when  about 
to  begin  his  campaign  of  1908;  he  was  requested  to  select  his  tree; 
laying  his  hand  upon  one  of  the  finest  oaks  on  the  place,  he  remarked 
"This  is  about  my  size." 

"Grandfather's  Oak/'  standing  close  by  the  trail,  where  the 
ground  bore,  for  many  years,  the  deep  print  of  "tramping  moccasins," 
earned  its  fame  through  the  incident  of  Mrs.  Hayes'  grandfather  hav- 
ing camped  beneath  it  during  the  War  of  1812.  Scars  made  by  his 
camp-fire  are  still  visible  on  its  trunk. 

The  Lucy  Hayes  Chapel,  named  in  her  honor,  was  outlined  in 
young  walnut  trees  by  Mr.  Hayes,  in  a  field  bordering  the  Grove. 
It  possessed  "nave,  transept  and  tower,"  and  as  he  was  accustomed 
to  say,  it  was  a  chapel  that  "would  be  worth  looking  at  two  hundred 
years  hence." 

LINCOLN  MEMORIAL  TREE 

On  April  27,  1865,  the  day  appointed  by  Governor  Stone,  of 
Iowa,  as  a  day  of  mourning  for  President  Lincoln,  John  Fine,  of 
Decorah,  la.,  dug  up  a  hackberry  shoot  and  transplanted  it  to  the 
ground  in  front  of  his  house.  It  has  developed  into  one  of  the  finest 
trees  in  the  State,  and  is  nearly  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  high  and 
twelve  feet  in  circumference.  It  is  one  of  the  few  hackberries  that 
has  attained  to  any  measure  of  note. 

GINGKO  TREE  AT  GRANT'S  TOMB 

In  1897,  a  gingko,  or  Chinese  Maiden-hair  tree,  sent  by  Li  Hung 
Chang,  was  planted  at  Grant's  tomb,  on  Riverside  Drive,  New  York 
City.  It  is  marked  by  a  bronze  tablet,  bearing  the  following  in- 
scription: 

"This  tree  is  planted  by  the  side  of  the  tomb  of  General  U.  S. 
Grant,  ex-President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  commemorating  his  greatness,  by  Li  Hung  Chang,  Guardian 
of  the  Prince,  Grand  Secretary  of  State,  Earl  of  the  First  Order 
Yong  Hu,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of 
China,  Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Censors.  Kwang  Hsu,  23rd 
year,  4th  moon,  May,  1897." 

ELMS  PLANTED  BY  ROYALTY 

The  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  America  in  1920,  is  commem- 
orated by  an  English  Elm  which  he  planted  in  Central  Park,  New 
York  City,  one  hundred  feet  from  the  spot  where  his  grandfather, 
Edward  VII  of  England,  planted  an  American  Elm,  half  a  century 
earlier.  The  Prince  was  welcomed  on  this  recent  occasion  by  Charles 

57 


Lathrop  Peck,  President  of  the  American  Forestry  Association,  and 
Dr.  George  F.  Kunz,  President  of  the  American  Scenic  and  Historic 
Preservation  Society. 

PLANTINGS  BY  PRESIDENT  AND  MRS.  HARDING 

In  memory  of  all  the  animals  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  World 
War,  an  elm  was  planted  by  President  and  Mrs.  Harding,  on  October 
17,  1821,  on  the  White  House  grounds  just  south  of  the  east  entrance 
to  the  house.  This  elm  bears  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  tree 
planted  as  a  memorial  to  our  animal  friends.  It  is  five  years  of  age,  and 
fifteen  feet  in  height,  and  will  be  marked  with  a  copper  star,  the 
marker  used  by  the  American  Animal  Red  Star  Relief  Association. 
The  ceremony  took  place  in  the  presence  of  about  one  hundred  spec- 
tators, among  whom  were  Mrs.  Wilson  Groshans,  of  Illinois,  who 
originated  the  idea  of  such  a  Memorial,  and  Mr.  James  P.  Briggs, 
President  of  the  Humane  Education  Society  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

LINCOLN  MEMORIAL  GROUNDS 

The  opening  of  Armistice  Week  was  marked  by  the  planting,  on 
November  7,  1821,  of  two  American  Elms  on  the  Lincoln  Memorial 
Grounds  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  trees,  one  of  which  was  planted 
for  the  allied  armies,  the  other  for  the  allied  navies,  were  dedicated 
by  Charles  Lathrop  Peck,  President  of  the  American  Forestry  Asso- 
ciation. They  were  placed  at  the  head  of  the  prospective  avenue  of 
memorial  trees  to  be  planted  by  various  governments. 

Mrs.  Harding  presented  her  tree  planting  trowel  to  members  of 
the  American  Legion,  who  planned  to  use  it  in  Chicago  on  Armistice 
Day  at  the  opening  of  a  Road  of  Remembrance,  which  will  be  several 
miles  in  length. 

BURROUGHS  MEMORIAL  FOREST 

The  boys  of  the  Raymond  Riordon  School  Conservation  Unit, 
under  the  Conservation  Commission  of  the  State  of  New  York,  have 
finished  planting  the  first  section  of  the  Burroughs  State  Memorial 
Forest  on  Rose  Mountain,  New  York.  In  memory  of  the  famous 
naturalist,  the  hill  is  to  be  rechristened  Burroughs  Mountain,  and  the 
forest,  largely  composed  of  evergreens,  is  to  be  planted  and  cared 
for  by  the  boys  of  the  State. 

TREE  TO  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

On  Theodore  Roosevelt's  sixty-second  birthday,  a  white  oak  was 
planted  in  memory  of  him,  near  his  grave  at  Oyster  Bay.  The  cere- 
mony was  arranged  by  the  New  York  Bird  and  Tree  Club,  of  which 
club  the  Colonel  was  a  member,  and  the  first  shovelful  of  earth  was 
thrown  upon  the  roots  of  the  tree  by  Mrs.  Thomas  Edison  in  behalf 
of  her  husband.  This  planting  is  thought  to  have  launched  the  move- 
ment for  commemorating  Col.  Roosevelt  in  this  way  all  over  the 
country. 

58 


TREE  TO  QUENTIN  ROOSEVELT 

* 

At  the  Force  School,  Washington,  D.  C.,  a  tree  perpetuating 
the  memory  of  Lieutenant  Quentin  Roosevelt,  a  former  pupil  there, 
is  looked  after  by  the  children.  A  committee  has  been  formed,  consist- 
ing of  one  child  from  each  class,  whose  duty  it  is  to  care  for  the  tree. 
Each  member  has  the  privilege  of  choosing  his  successor,  when  passing 
to  a  higher  class.  This  plan  has  found  favor  in  a  number  of  other 
schools,  and  should  be  further  developed  by  making  systematic  pro- 
vision for  the  protection  of  trees  wherever  situated. 

AN  UNUSUAL  ALUMNAE  AVENUE 

Mt.  St.  Joseph  College  of  Chestnut  Hill,  Philadelphia,  Penn., 
has  instituted  a  new  departure  in  alumnae  memorial  planting.  In 
November,  1921,  an  avenue  of  oaks  was  dedicated,  leading  from  the 
bank  of  the  romantic  Wissahickon  Creek,  which  forms  the  boundary 
of  the  convent  grounds,  to  the  door  of  the  new  college.  About  four- 
teen of  the  trees  have  been  planted,  the  beginning  of  the  stately  avenue, 
which  in  time  to  come  will  develop  into  a  walk  of  rare  beauty. 
Memories  of  interest  to  friends  and  pupils  of  the  college  will  cluster 
about  it,  as  each  oak  will  be  marked  with  the  name  of  one  of  the 
alumnse. 

NATIONAL  FARM  SCHOOL 

The  National  Farm  School,  also  near  Philadelphia,  Penn., 
possesses  a  grove  of  trees  commemorating  war  heroes  and  friends  of 
the  school. 

A  novel  feature  has  been  added  to  the  grove  in  the  naming  of 
Festive  Trees  in  honor  of  birthdays,  confirmations,  betrothals  and 
wedding  anniversaries  of  those  associated  with  the  institution. 

MEMORIAL  TREES  OF  PHILADELPHIA 

Humanitarians  of  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  have  on  several  occasions 
celebrated  Arbor  Day  by  unique  tree-plantings  to  commemorate 
events  of  national  or  local  interest. 

In  1916,  a  horse-chestnut  was  planted  in  Washington  Square,  in 
honor  of  the  first  general  observance  of  Humane  Week  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. 1917  saw  the  planting  of  three  oriental  planes,  in  the  yard  of 
the  Wharton  Public  School,  in  honor  of  three  citizens,  women  who 
were  co-workers  with  Henry  Bergh,  and  with  him  pioneers  in  the 
Anti-Cruelty  Movement.  The  women  thus  commemorated  were  Mrs. 
Caroline  Earle  White,  Miss  Adele  Biddle  and  Mrs.  Annie  L.  Lowry. 

On  Arbor  Day  in  the  spring  of  1918,  a  sycamore  was  planted  on 
the  new  parkway,  by  the  American  Anti- Vivisection  Society  and  the 
Animal  Rescue  League,  of  Philadelphia,  in  honor  of  the  Third 
Liberty  Loan.  This  occasion  is  memorable  as  the  first  tree- 
planting  in  the  commonwealth  attended  by  the  United  States  troops 

59 


in  uniform.     Governor  Brumbaugh,  of  Pennsylvania,  cast  the  first 
shovelful  of  earth,  and  Miss  Leta  Sullivan,  a  member  of  one  of  Phil- 
adelphia's most  prominent  families,  selected  on  this  occasion  as  being 
a  member  of  both  the  societies  in  charge,  raised  the  flag  in  signal  for. 
the  military  salute. 

One  year  later,  an  elm,  his  favorite  tree,  was  planted  by  the  same 
Societies,  in  memory  of  Joyce  Kilmer,  the  soldier-poet,  whose  ex- 
quisite verses  entitled  ''Trees"  should  be  familiar  to  every  lover  of 
nature.  The  ceremony  took  place  in  historic  Logan  Square,  where 
the  Sanitary  Commission  Fair  was  held  during  the  Civil  War. 

TREES 
By  Joyw  Kilmer. 

"I  think  that  I  shall  never  see 
A  poem  as  lovely  as  a  tree. 

"A  tree  whose  hungry  mouth  is  prest 
Against  the  earth's  sweet  flowing  breast ; 

A  tree  that  looks  at  God  all  day, 
And  lifts  her  leafy  arms  to  pray; 

A  tree  that  may  in  Summer  wear 
A  nest  of  robins  in  her  hair; 

Upon  whose  bosom  snow  has  lain; 
Who  intimately  lives  with  rain. 

Poems  are  made  by  fools  like  me, 
But  only  God  can  make  a  tree." 

On  the  fall  Arbor  Day  of  1920,  (it  being  the  custom  in  Pennsyl- 
vania to  observe  this  day  twice  a  year,  in  spring  and  autumn) ,  Ritten- 
house  Square  was  the  scene  of  a  triple  planting  in  honor  of  humane 
workers  well  known  and  well  beloved  throughout  the  city,  Miss 
Katharine  C.  Biddle,  First  President  of  the  Animal  Rescue  League; 
Mrs.  Albert  Hoffman,  (formerly  Miss  Leta  Sullivan),  and  Mrs. 
Emeline  Reed  Bedell.  To  each  was  assigned  the  tree  known  to  have 
been  her  favorite.  To  Miss  Biddle,  a  horse-chestnut;  to  Mrs.  Hoff- 
man, a  black  walnut;  and  to  Mrs.  Bedell,  a  hickory. 

TREES  TO  "HUMANITY"  MARTIN  AND  JACK  LONDON 

The  year  1922  marks  the  centennary  of  the  first  law  passed  in 
any  country  for  the  protection  of  animals.  It  was  placed  upon  the 
statute  books  of  England,  (after  a  decade  of  opposition)  thanks  to 
the  efforts  of  Richard  Martin,  an  Irish  member  of  the  House  of 
Commons. 

The  Centennial  Anniversary  of  this  epoch  marking  piece  of 
legislation  was  fittingly  commemorated  on  April  28th  in  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  when  humanitarians  from  all  parts  of  the  city  gathered  in 
the  Muncipal  Court  Gardens  to  witness  the  planting  of  twin  oaks 
presented  by  Judge  Brown  of  that  court. 

60 


Noted  for  rugged  strength  and  enduring  usefulness,  oak  trees 
form  the  most  appropriate  memorials  of  the  two  reformers  thus  hon- 
ored, Richard  Martin  and  Jack  London,  whose  splendid  crusade 
against  the  exhibition  of  performing  animals  is  well  known. 

Martin  succeeded  where  his  predecessors  had  failed,  in  a  fashion 
peculiarly  his  own.  In  that  memorable  session  of  Parliament  of  1822, 
he  proved  himself  a  man  who  could  stand  his  ground  in  the  midst  of 
ridicule,  and  handle  a  difficult  situation  with  ease. 

To  quote  from  Margaret  M.  Halvey,  "Richard  Martin  knew  and 
acted  upon  the  knowledge  that  those  who  are  cruel  are  always 
cowards;  and  so  when  his  hearers  .  .  .  greeted  the  "Anti-Cruelty 
Bill"  with  cat-calls  and  howls  of  derision,  Martin  held  his  peace 
throughout  the  uproar  and  then  announced  that  he  would  personally 
chastise  every  man  who  had  insulted  him  on  the  floor  of  the  House 
and  who  wished  now  to  give  his  name  as  willing  to  repeat  the  insult! 

It  is  significant  that  not  a  single  voice  was  raised  in  reply  and  the 
bill  passed  its  second  reading  in  absolute  quiet !  Following  this  occur- 
rence, King  George  IV  of  England,  who  knew  Martin  personally, 
named  him  "Humanity"  Martin,  as  he  is  still  called  in  the  annals  of 
the  day." 

Certificates  have  been  issued  by  the  American  Forestry  Associa- 
tion to  the  Societies  which  inaugurated  this  beautiful  custom  in  the 
City  of  Brotherly  Love. 

NEW  YORK  STATE  MEMORIAL  HIGHWAY 

The  Memorial  Highway  extending  from  New  York  City  to 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  will  be  planted  with  two  thousand  elm  trees,  during 
the  spring  of  1922,  in  honor  of  soldiers  of  the  State  wrho  gave  their 
lives  in  the  World  War.  The  College  of  Forestry  of  Syracuse  Uni- 
versity, New  York,  will  furnish  the  trees  for  the  first  ten  miles  of 
the  avenue. 

"This  is  a  move  in  the  right  direction,"  writes  the  Editor  of  the 
New  York  Evening  Sun.  "There  is  an  urgent  need  in  this  country 
for  the  beautifying  of  the  roads.  Americans  who  visit  France  and 
other  European  nations  are  invariably  struck  by  the  splendid  high- 
ways, to  which  the  unending  rows  of  splendid  trees  add  such  distinc- 
tion and  charm.  On  the  other  hand,  European  travelers  in  the  United 
States  can  hardly  avoid  a  feeling  that  our  roads  too  often  are  designed 
only  to  facilitate  transportation  and  add  nothing  to  the  beauty  of  the 
landscape." 


61 


CHAPTER  XI 

White  Willows  in  Pennsylvania — Pope's  Willow — Napoleon  Willows — 
The  Inwood  Tulip  Tree — The  Stockton  Catalpas — Hamilton's 
Trees— The  Treaty  Tree  of  Grosse  He— The  Osage  Orange. 

WHITE  WILLOWS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 

Benjamin  Franklin  has  left  us  an  interesting  account  of  the 
introduction  into  Pennsylvania  of  the  white  willow,  a  handsome 
foreign  tree  which  has  now  become  naturalized. 

Noticing  a  sprout  on  a  willow  basket  that  had  been  taken  from 
a  ship  docking  at  a  wharf  on  the  Delaware,  at  Philadelphia,  he  gave 
the  twig  to  Debby  Norris,  who  planted  it  on  her  father's  estate,  Fair- 
hill,  near  the  city.  It  took  kindly  to  the  new  environment,  and  became 
the  progenitor  of  the  white  willows  which  are  now  so  numerous. 

POPE'S  WILLOW 

The  introduction  of  the  weeping  willow,  originally  an  oriental 
tree,  first  into  England  and  thence  into  America,  forms  an  interesting 
bit  of  history. 

A  box  of  figs  from  Smyrna  was  sent  to  Lady  Suffolk,  of  London, 
and  her  friend,  Alexander  Pope,  who  happened  to  be  present,  noticed 
an  unfamiliar,  green  twig  bound  about  the  package.  "This  is  some- 
thing we  are  not  accustomed  to  here,"  he  said.  "I  will  plant  it  in  the 
garden  of  my  home  on  the  Thames  and  see  what  it. produces."  So  the 
twig  found  its  way  to  the  grounds  of  his  villa  at  Twickenham,  Eng- 
land, and  a  graceful  weeping  willow  was  the  result. 

Long  afterward,  a  British  officer,  starting  for  America  during 
the  Revolutionary  War,  took  a  shoot  from  the  tree,  intending  to 
transplant  it  to  the  estate  he  expected  to  receive  there  when  the  Royal 
Arms  should  have  won  success.  When  the  war  terminated  differently 
from  his  expectation,  he  presented  the  twig  to  John  Park  Custis, 
Washington's  step-son,  who  planted  it  on  his  estate,  in  Virginia. 

In  1790,  General  Gates  transferred  a  shoot  from  it  to  his  farm 
on  Manhattan  Island,  N.  Y.,  where  it  flourished  and  became  known 
as  "Gates'  weeping  willow  tree."  As  New  York  City  spread  and 
business  crept  up  to  the  site  of  his  farm  at  Third  Avenue  and  22nd 
Street,  the  tree,  well  advanced  in  years,  was  felled  in  1860. 

A  similar  fate  overtook  the  parent  tree,  Pope's  willow,  at  Twicken- 
ham, which  was  cut  down  by  a  subsequent  owner  of  the  property 
because  he  was  annoyed  by  the  number  of  visitors,  who  came  to  admire 
it  and  carry  away  bits  of  wood  as  souvenirs. 

62 


WILLOWS  ON  LAKE  MENDOTA,  MADISON,  WIS. 

GrovJn  from  cuttings  of  \tfillows  at  Napoleon's  grave,  St.  Helena. 
PKoto  b?  L.  W.  Brotf  n,  Madison,  Wis. 


NAPOLEON  WILLOWS 

Other  weeping  willows  have  been  grown  in  America  from  cut- 
tings taken  from  a  tree  of  that  species  which  shaded  Napoleon's  grave 
on  St.  Helena.  It  was  his  custom  to  sit  beneath  a  weeping  willow 
there,  perhaps  brooding  over  his  misfortunes,  and  oddly  enough,  the 
tree  was  destroyed  by  a  storm,  about  the  time  of  his  death.  Madame 
Bertrand,  a  close  friend,  planted  several  cuttings  from  the  willow 
beside  the  railing  surrounding  his  tomb,  and  slips  from  these  trees 
have  been  brought  from  time  to  time,  to  this  country. 

One  of  the  descendants  of  the  Napoleon  willows  which,  for  nearly 
half  a  century  has  beautified  the  Phillips  estate  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  has 
been  described  by  Mr.  Carl  Bannwart  as  "the  archbishop  of  this  green 
diocese  of  Phillips  Park."  The  tree  was  brought  to  John  Morris 
Phillips,  owner  of  the  estate,  which  he  has  presented  to  Newark  as 
a  city  park,  by  a  friend,  who  cut  it  from  one  of  the  original  trees  on 
St.  Helena,  knowing  Mr.  Phillips'  fondness  both  for  trees  and  for 
any  relics  associated  with  Napoleon.  Unfortunately,  the  historic 
willow  shows  signs  of  decay,  and  has  so  far  failed  to  respond  to  the 
efforts  of  tree  surgeons. 

Another  Napoleon  willow  was  brought  from  St.  Helena,  about 
seventy  years  ago,  by  the  late  John  T.  Brown,  of  Providence,  R.  I. 
When  the  tree  was  well  grown,  he  gave  a  slip  from  it  to  a  relative  in 
Wisconsin,  and  later  transplanted  back  to  Providence  a  slip  from  the 
Wisconsin  tree,  which  had  become  strong  and  sturdy.  This  great- 
grandchild of  the  willow  on  St.  Helena  is  now  flourishing  in  Provi- 
dence, and  a  cutting  from  it  has  been  planted  in  Swan  Point  cemetery 
there. 

On  the  shore  of  Lake  Mendota,  Madison,  Wis.,  near  the  foot  of 
North  Livingston  Street,  is  a  row  of  handsome  willows  grown  from 
cuttings  that  were  brought  by  a  sea  captain  from  the  grave  of 
Napoleon  on  St.  Helena. 

THE  INWOOD  TULIP  TREE 

The  fine  old  tulip  tree  at  the  eastern  base  of  Inwood  Hill,  on  the 
northern  end  of  Manhattan  Island,  is  considered  Manhattan's  oldest 
tree.  As  its  age  is  estimated  to  be  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years, 
it  was  in  its  youth  when  Henry  Hudson  made  his  memorable  voyage 
of  discovery  on  the  river,  and  during  the  eventful  years  that  followed, 
the  tree  was  a  silent  witness  of  many  interesting  developments. 

Standing  on  the  shore  of  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek,  it  recalls,  among 
other  incidents,  the  lively  career  of  Anthony  Van  Corlaer,  the  trump- 
eter, a  noted  character  of  the  days  of  Dutch  occupation,  when  his 
friend,  Peter  Stuyvesant,  was  Governor  of  New  Netherlands  before 
the  English  had  changed  the  name  of  the  province  to  New  York.  It 
was  owing  to  Van  Corlaer's  escapades,  according  to  the  old  legends 
of  the  region,  that  both  Anthony's  Nose,  a  bluff  in  the  Highlands  of 
the  Hudson,  and  also  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  received  their  names.  As 

63 


he  was  attempting  to  cross  the  creek  one  stormy  night,  when  on  a 
political  mission,  friends  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  the  dangerous 
undertaking,  but  nothing  daunted,  Anthony  insisted  as  he  waded  into 
the  turbulent  waters,  that  cross  he  would,  'en  spuyt  den  duyvil" 
Promptly,  the  "duyvil"  appeared,  in  the  form  of  a  huge  monster,  and 
disappeared  with  the  luckless  trumpeter  beneath  the  waves.  But  it  is 
said  that  blasts  from  the  latter's  trumpet  can  still  be  heard  arising 
from  the  creek  on  stormy  nights. 

The  city's  Park  Department  has  preserved  the  ancient  tree,  filling 
its  cavities  with  cement,  and  protecting  it  with  an  iron  railing.  On  the 
surface  of  one  of  the  cement  fillings  is  the  following  inscription  in 
gold  letters:  "Tulip  Tree,  Liriodendron  tulipifera.  Circumference 
19  feet.  Age  225  years.  Henry  Hudson  entered  this  inlet  in  1609 
and  may  have  met  the  Indians  here  who  used  the  place  for  a  camp,  as 
shown  by  the  quantity  of  old  broken  oyster  shells  around  this  tree  and 
near  by." 

THE  STOCKTON  CATALPAS 

The  fine  avenue  of  catalpas  shading  the  lawn  of  the  Inn  at 
Princeton,  N.  J.,  are  a  memorial  to  Richard  Stockton,  the  well  known 
"signer"  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  who  is  thought  to  have 
brought  the  trees  from  England  in  1762.  The  grounds  were  a  part 
of  Stockton's  estate,  Morven.  His  old  house,  still  standing,  was  a 
favorite  meeting-place  for  the  patriots  of  those  days. 

"For  more  than  one  hundred  years,"  says  John  Frelinghuysen 
Hageman,  in  his  "History  of  Princeton  and  Its  Institutions,"  "These 
ancient  witnesses  have  borne  testimony  to  the  taste  and  unselfish 
instincts  of  this  noble  man.  This  long  row  of  catalpas  in  front  of 
Morven  can  only  be  viewed  as  a  sacred  memorial  to  the  signer  of  the 
Declaration.  The  fourth  day  of  July  is  the  great  day  in  Mr.  Stock- 
ton's calendar,  as  it  is  in  that  of  our  country,  and  these  catalpas,  with 
the  undeviating  certainty  of  the  seasons,  put  on  their  pure  white 
blooming  costume  every  Fourth  of  July.  And  for  this  reason  they 
have  been  called,  very  fitly,  in  this  country  the  "Independence  Tree." 

HAMILTON'S  TREES 

Following  the  Constitutional  Convention,  which  met  in  Philadel- 
phia, Penn.,  in  1787,  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  planted 
thirteen  sweet  gum  trees  on  the  grounds  of  his  home,  Hamilton 
Grange,  in  New  York  City,  to  commemorate  the  entrance  of  -  the 
thirteen  original  States  into  the  new  Federal  Union. 

For  many  years  the  trees  survived  him,  and  a  few  remained  as 
late  as  1911,  but  then  were  removed  to  make  way  for  building  opera- 
tions. The  same  fate  befell  the  three  tall  sycamores  at  140th  Street 
and  Hamilton  Place,  said  to  be  the  trees  under  which  the  seconds 
met,  just  before  the  duel  between  Hamilton  and  Burr,  which  resulted 
so  disastrously  for  the  former. 

64 


One  cannot  help  echoing,  regretfully  the  words  of  Mrs.  J.  J. 
Wilder,  President  of  the  Georgia  Society  of  the  Colonial  Dames  of 
America,  "If  our  patriotic  societies  had  been  founded  earlier,  how 
much  might  have  been  saved.  .  .  ." 

The  late  Professor  Lucien  M.  Underwood,  a  director  of  the  New 
York  Botanical  Garden,  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  1902,  told  of  the 
amusing  misstatements  made  about  the  sweet  gum  trees  by  a  number 
of  newspapers  and  magazines,  which  described  them  variously,  as 
oaks,  maples  and  elms;  one  of  Hamilton's  grandsons  insisting  that 
they  were  lime  trees,  brought  from  Washington's  home  at  Mt. 
Vernon. 

As  Professor  Underwood  states,  however,  the  trees  were  "not 
oaks  and  not  maples  and  not  elms  and  not  limes  (or  lindens)  but  plain 
straightforward  examples  of  sweet  gum  (Liquid  Amber)  a  tree  not 
uncommon  in  the  native  forests  about  New  York,  and  yet  one  whose 
corky-winged  twigs  are  sometimes  sold  on  the  city  streets  as  'rare 
alligator-wood  from  the  tropics'." 

THE  TREATY  TREE  OF  GROSSE  ILE 

The  magnificient  old  basswood  or  linden  tree  of  Grosse  He, 
Mich.,  the  largest  of  the  group  of  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit 
River,  was  witness  of  an  important  transaction,  two  days  after  the 
signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  island  had  long  been  a  place  of  historic  note.  It  was  the 
home  of  the  Potawatamie  nation,  and  while  Chief  Pontiac  besieged 
Detroit,  afforded  a  camping  ground  for  the  Hurons.  Other  Indians, 
also  made  it  their  headquarters  when  attacking  the  boats  that  came 
from  Niagara  to  relieve  the  garrison  in  a  state  of  siege  nearby.  Grosse 
lie  was  situated  on  the  trade  route  connecting  Albany,  Detriot  and 
Macinac  and  frequented  by  white  fur-traders  and  Indians.  Cadillac 
considered  it  as  the  site  of  the  city  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  but  abandoned 
the  idea,  fearing  there  was  not  sufficient  timber.  Inl707,  he  deeded 
the  island  to  his  daughter. 

The  old  linden  had  flung  its  shade  over  many  a  negotiation  be- 
tween the  whites  and  the  red  men.  Under  its  branches,  on  July  6, 
1776,  a  treaty  was  signed,  conveying  the  island  to  two  merchants  of 
Detroit,  Alexander  and  William  Macomb,  who  purchased  it  for  a 
little  money,  blankets  and  tobacco.  It  was  of  great  importance  that 
the  island  should  pass  into  American  ownership,  otherwise,  "division 
of  the  waters  of  the  great  Detroit  River  might  have  been  changed." 

Several  Indian  tribes  were  represented  on  this  solemn  occasion, 
the  Fox  and  Sacs  tribes,  the  Kikapoos  and  Potawatamies  all  being 
mentioned.  The  chiefs  signed  the  agreement  by  drawing  their  totems 
on  the  deed,  a  fish,  bear,  wild  cat,  doe,  deer,  fawn  with  one  leg,  etc. 
One  of  these  totems  is  the  first  sketch  of  the  American  eagle  known  to 
exist  anywhere.  The  chief's  eldest  sons,  not  yet  warriors,  signed  by 
making  their  thumb-prints.  Tecumseh,  "the  torch  of  the  North 
West"  was  one  of  the  chiefs  who  signed  the  document. 

65 


On  June  1,  1811,  the  United  States  Government  ratified  the 
treaty,  President  James  Madison  granting  by  patent  the  land  to  John 
W.,  William  and  David  Macomb,  heirs  of  William.  On  July  3,  1901, 
the  old  Treaty  Tree  fell,  the  victim  of  a  severe  storm.  Like  many 
another  veteran,  it  is  represented  by  a  younger  generation,  a  sapling 
having  sprung  from  its  roots. 

In  1906,  on  the  130th  anniversary  of  the  purchase  of  the  island, 
the  Woman's  Improvement  Association  of  Grosse  He,  marked  the 
site  of  the  old  tree  with  a  bronze  tablet  placed  upon  a  large  boulder. 
During  the  ceremony,  the  tablet  was  unveiled  by  a  direct  descendant 
of  the  Macombs.  The  inscription  reads  as  follows: 

"This  stone  marks  the  location  of  the  Treaty  Tree  and  com- 
memorates the  conveyance  by  treaty  of  Grosse  He  (known  to  the 
Indians  as  Kitche-Minishon)  and  the  adjacent  islands  to  William 
and  Alexander  Macomb  by  the  Potawatamie  Indians.  The  treaty 
was  signed  by  eighteen  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Potawatamie  nation  of 
Indians. 

The  events  of  the  past  shape  the  pathway  of  the  future. 

Erected  by  the  Woman's  Improvement  Association  of  Grosse 
He,  1906.  The  dee  is  recorded  in  the  register  of  Detroit,  No.  2, 
Vol  6.  p.  19." 

THE  OSAGE  ORANGE  OF  NEW  HARMONY 

In  1824,  the  Rappite  community  of  New  Harmony,  Ind.,  was 
purchased  by  Robert  Owen,  a  believer  in  the  community  system,  and 
William  Machen  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  a  noted  geologist.  Under  their 
leadership,  New  Harmony  "soon  became  the  mecca  of  scientists,  a 
settlement  which  indeed,  failed  to  realize  the  hopes  of  its  founder, 
yet  which  served  to  awaken  that  scientific  spirit  which  has  never  died 
out  in  Indiana." 

A  tree  which  still  flourishes,  commemorating  the  palmy  days  of 
the  community,  is  the  Osage  Orange,  planted  there  in  1826,  by 
Thomas  Say,  the  naturalist.  Nuthall,  the  botanist,  named  it  "Maclura 
aurantiaca"  in  honor  of  Maclure. 

Today,  its  trunk  measures  eleven  and  one-half  feet  around, 
branching  six  feet  from  the  ground. 


66 


CHAPTER  XII 

Bartram's   Cypress— The   Cypress   of   New   Bern— The    Cypress    of 
Painters'  Arboretum — The  Elgin  Yews — The  H addon  Yews. 

BARTRAM'  CYPRESS 

Until  the  early  summer  of  1920,  when  a  severe  storm  laid  it  low, 
one  of  the  chief  objects  of  interest  in  Bartram's  Garden,  Philadelphia, 
Penn.,  was  his  famous  cypress,  which  he  brought  as  a  sapling  from 
Delaware,  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  ago.  Looking  about  to 
find  a  switch  for  his  horse,  it  is  said,  he  pulled  up  the  tiny  cypress,  but 
instead  of  using  it  for  that  purpose,  carried  it  home  and  planted  it, 
prophesying  that  it  would  "grow  to  a  great  height."  The  prediction 
was  fulfilled,  as  it  attained  to  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet, 
with  a  girth  of  seven  feet.  Long  a  noted  tree,  it  had  been  protected 
by  an  iron  railing  from  the  depredations  of  relic  hunters. 

THE  CYPRESS  OF  NEW  BERN 

A  short  distance  from  the  edge  of  the  Neuse  River,  at  New  Bern, 
N.  C.,  is  a  fine  old  cypress  formerly  owned  by  Governor  Spaight  of 
that  State. 

The  tree's  age  is  uncertain,  but  it  was  probably  well  grown  before 
the  first  Swiss  settlers  arrived  from  Berne.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
the  first  boat  ever  built  in  those  waters  was  fashioned  beneath  its 
shade,  and  then  launched  into  the  river.  It  was  in  Revolutionary 
days,  as  one  of  its  admirers  observes,  that  "the  tree  became  a 
personality." 

In  1781,  following  the  defeat  of  General  Gates  by  Cornwallis, 
General  Nathaniel  Greene,  who  saved  the  American  army  at  the 
Brandywine,  came  to  New  Bern  to  consult  with  Governor  Spaight. 
The  Army  of  the  South  was  a  wreck,  and  without  funds  nothing  could 
be  done  to  rescue  it.  General  Greene  and  the  Governor  met  under 
the  cypress  to  discuss  the  matter,  and  there  the  latter  pledged  the 
resources  of  the  State,  as  well  as  his  own  private  means  to  meet  the 
emergency. 

Success  quickly  followed  the  reorganization  of  the  army,  and  the 
British  were  defeated  at  Eutaw  Springs. 

After  becoming  President,  Washington  made  a  visit  to  New 
Bern,  and  on  being  told  the  story  of  the  cypress,  walked  over  to  the 
spot  and  rested  under  its  shade,  his  intimate  friendship  with  General 
Green  probably  serving  to  emphasize  his  interest  in  that  memorable 
conference. 

67 


THE  CYPRESS  OF  PAINTERS'  ARBORETUM 

A  cypress  tree,  worthy  of  note,  stands  in  the  old  botanic  garden 
near  Media,  Perm.,  known  *as  Painters'  Arboretum.  In  1825,  the  two 
botanists,  Jacob  and  Minshall  Painter,  began  planting  their  collec- 
tion of  rare  shrubs  and  trees  on  their  home  farm,  a  tract  of  land  taken 
up  by  patents  from  William  Penn,  and  settled  by  Jacob  Minshall  in 
1701.  The  old  place  bears  the  distinction  of  never  having  been  sold, 
but  always  descending  from  one  member  of  the  family  to  another. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  garden  today,  is  the 
old  cypress,  which  illustrates  in  a  striking  manner  the  influence  of 
environment  upon  growth.  This  tree,  which  bears  flat  narrow  leaves 
like  an  evergreen,  sheds  them  in  the  autumn  and  further  surprises  us 
by  altering  its  appearance  according  to  the  moisture  of  the  soil  in 
which  it  grows.  When  standing  near  water  or  in  swampy  ground, 
its  branches  are  low  and  spreading,  and  all  about  its  base,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Painters'  cypress,  curious  knobby  growths,  called  knees, 
push  up  through  the  grass. 

They  are  evidently  extensions  of  the  roots  and  are  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conveying  air  to  them,  for  when  the  water  is  drained  off,  the 
knees  disappear  as  though  their  mission  had  been  accomplished.  They 
are  not  to  be  found  around  a  cypress  standing  in  dry  ground,  and  in 
such  surroundings  the  tree  changes  its  appearance  still  more,  rising 
tall  and  slim,  and  bearing  its  branches  chiefly  on  the  upper  part  of 
the  trunk. 

THE  ELGIN  YEWS 

The  ancient  spreading  yew  trees  of  the  South  Court  of  Columbia 
University,  New  York  City,  were  for  long  years  familiar  features 
of  the  college  grounds,  forming  as  they  did  a  cherished  link  between 
the  University  of  the  present  day  and  that  of  one  hundred  years  ago. 
They  were  survivors  of  the  Elgin  Botanic  Garden  founded  by  Dr. 
David  Hosack,  Professor  of  Botany  and  Materia  Medica  in  the  col- 
lege from  1795  to  1811. 

Having  long  wished  for  a  botanic  garden,  the  doctor,  in  1797, 
began  urging  the  trustees  to  have  one  planted.  Failing  to  accomplish 
this,  on  account  of  lack  of  funds,  he  petitioned  the  Legislature,  but 
again  no  success.  At  length,  in  1801,  he  purchased  with  his  own 
money,  twenty  acres  on  the  Middle  Road  between  Bloomingdale  and 
King's  Bridge,  about  three  miles  and  a  half  distant  from  the  city, 
and  named  the  little  park  the  Elgin  Botanic  Garden. 

Here  he  built  a  conservatory  and  two  hot  houses,  surrounding 
them  with  a  "belt  of  forest  trees  and  shrubs,  both  native  and  exotic." 
A  large  oil  painting  of  the  garden  at  that  time,  hangs  in  the  Adminis- 
tration Building,  Bronx  Park. 

In  1811,  the  State  purchased  the  garden  from  him,  but  three  years 
later  ordered  it  broken  up,  probably  because  the  expense  of  maintain- 
ing it  was  too  heavy,  and  directed  "a  list  of  the  different  kinds  of 


plants,  flowers  and  shrubs  in  said  garden  be  sent  to  each  of  the  other 
colleges  in  the  State."  Within  one  year,  the  trustees  of  Columbia 
College  were  required  to  deliver  at  least  one  healthy  plant  of  each  kind 
to  each  college  that  applied  for  it.  None  appear  to  have  applied, 
however,  and  in  1819,  or  soon  afterward,  the  trees  and  other  plants 
of  the  garden  were  presented  to  the  New  York  Hospital,  which  had 
purchased  large  property  at  Bloomingdale,  now  Morningside 
Heights.  The  acceptance  of  the  gift  appears  in  the  Hospital  Report 
for  1821. 

Long  before  Columbia  University  bought  the  site,  the  fine  old 
English  yews  were  conspicuous  on  the  front  lawn  of  the  hospital 
grounds.  When  the  estate  passed  into  its  new  ownership,  they  seemed 
even  more  appropriately  placed  in  academic  surroundings.  They 
have  been  described  as  "monuments  to  the  past  and  a  memorial  of  a 
man  whose  efforts  have  borne  greater  fruition  in  the  Botanic  Garden 
which  the  city  now  possesses  than  even  he  could  have  hoped." 

THE  HADDON  YEWS 

Longfellow's  beautiful  poem  "Elizabeth,"  has  immortalized  one 
of  the  earliest  and  most  unique  romances  of  the  New  World.  A 
modern  house  was  long  ago  erected  upon  the  site  of  the  old  Haddon 
Homestead,  at  Haddonfield,  N.  J.,  the  scene  of  the  story,  but  today, 
if  fortunate  enough  to  have  the  permission  of  its  owner,  one  may  visit 
the  old  place  with  its  historic  setting,  associated  with  the  days  of  some 
of  the  first  Quaker  settlers. 

Elizabeth  Haddon  was  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  Englishman,  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  the  holder  of  property  in  New 
Jersey,  on  the  site  of  the  future  town  of  Haddonfield.  Firmly  con- 
vinced that  she  was  called  by  the  "Inner  Light,"  to  leave  her  English 
home  and  friends  and  cast  in  her  lot  in  the  New  World,  she  obtained 
her  father's  consent  to  cross  the  seas  to  America  and  settle  on  his  land 
there.  One  stands  aghast  at  the  courage  and  determination  of  the 
quiet  Quaker  maiden  of  nineteen,  but  the  Divine  call  was  to  be  obeyed, 
and  in  1701  she  carried  out  her  purpose,  bringing  with  her,  among 
other  cherished  possessions,  a  bucket  of  slips  from  yew  trees  in  the 
home  garden. 

These  she  planted  in  front  of  her  dwelling  in  the  wilds  of  "the 
Jerseys,"  and  taking  kindly  to  their  new  quarters,  they  grew,  and 
flourished  for  many  a  year,  their  fame  increasing  with  time  and  with 
growth  of  popular  interest  in  historic  landmarks.  Two  of  the  yews 
still  ornament  the  old  garden.  Many  a  tale  they  might  tell,  to  an 
ear  that  could  hear,  of  the  coming  and  going  of  men  and  women  of 
note  in  the  colonies,  for  the  Haddon  Homestead  became  a  centre  of 
hospitality.  And  there  were  many  guests  of  humbler  origin,  for  at 
the  back  of  the  dwelling-house  still  stands  the  little  building  where 
the  mistress  of  the  home  made  and  distributed  medicines  and  cordials 
to  the  Indians. 


Busy  as  she  was,  in  her  new  life,  there  was  one  face  which  Eliza- 
beth had  never  forgotten,  that  of  the  young  Quaker,  John  Estaugh, 
whom  she  had  heard  speak  "as  if  he  were  John,  the  Apostle,"  at  "the 
great  May-Meeting  in  London."  His  stirring  address  had  sunk  into 
the  heart  of  the  young  girl,  making  a  deep  impression,  and  their  meet- 
ing was  unto  her  a  constant  memory  during  the  changing  years  that 
followed. 

And  now,  on  some  errand  of  business  or  mercy,  Estaugh,  too, 
had  come  to  the  colony.  The  poet  tells  us  how,  journeying  through 
the  winter  night,  he  met  another  lone  traveler,  who,  as  they  went  on 
together,  told  him  of  Elizabeth  and  her  comfortable  home  and  her 
many  good  deeds.  Perhaps  the  urge  of  old  memories  was  even 
stronger  than  the  need  of  a  night's  shelter.  At  all  events,  he  lost  no 
time  in  seeking  the  latter,  and  was  made  welcome. 

"Youthful  he  was  and  tall,  and  his  cheeks  aglow  with  the  night-air; 
And  as  he  entered,  Elizabeth  rose,  and  going  to  meet  him, 
As  if  an  unseen  power  had  announced  and  preceded  his  presence, 
And  he  had  come  as  one  whose  coming  had  long  been  expected, 
Quietly  gave  him  her  hand,  and  said,  'Thou  art  welcome,  John  Estaugh.' 
And  the  stranger  replied,  With  staid  and  quiet  behavior, 
'Dost  thou  remember  me  still,  Elizabeth?    After  so  many 
Years  have  passed,  it  seemeth  a  wonderful  thing  that  I  find  thee. 
Surely  the  hand  of  the  Lord  conducted  me  here  to  thy  threshold'." 

And  Elizabeth  answered  demurely: 

"Surely  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  in  it;  his  Spirit  hath  led  thee 
Out  of  the  darkness  and  storm  to  the  light  and  peace  of  my  fireside!" 

When  the  guest  took  his  departure,  next  morning,  in  the  glory  of 
the  winter  sunshine,  it  was  with  the  promise  to  return  at  the  meeting 
to  be  held  in  May.  Long  and  cold  were  the  months  that  intervened; 
full  of  cheerful  labor,  full,  too,  of  quiet  meditation,  and  when  spring 
came  with  its  "rush  of  blossoms  and  music,"  the  inner  voice  once  more 
insistently  called,  and  again  Elizabeth  obeyed. 

Quarterly  meeting  was  about  to  open,  and  John  Estaugh,  with 
a  party  of  Friends  on  their  way  to  attend  it,  stopped  at  the  Haddon 
Homestead,  for  refreshment.  As  they  were  leaving,  the  young  mis- 
tress of  the  house  called  him  aside,  and  telling  him  she  had  somewhat 
to  say  in  private,  asked  him  to  wait.  Together,  they  rode  through  the 
leafy  woods,  and  then,  faithful  to  her  call,  she  unburdened  her  mind: 

"Then  Elizabeth  said,  though  still  with  a  certain  reluctance, 
As  if  impelled  to  reveal  a  secret  she  fain  would  have  guarded: 
I  will  no  longer  conceal  what  is  laid  upon  me  to  tell  thee; 
I  have  received  from  the  Lord  a  charge  to  love  thee,  John  Estaugh." 

The  poet  has  told  us  how  John  Estaugh,  "surprised  by  the  words 
she  had  spoken,"  urged  that  his  business  must  be  finished  before  he 
could  consider  them ;  how  he  returned  to  England  for  a  time,  and  then 
"came  back  o'er  the  sea  for  the  gift  that  was  offered." 

In  the  old  garden,  where  tradition  tells  us  the  lovers  spent  many 
happy  hours,  the  yews  kept  silent  watch  through  the  years  that  fol- 
lowed. Long  since,  those  first  owners  have  passed  away,  but  the  old 
trees  survive.  "They  are  waiting  for  you,"  says  Wilhelm  Miller, 

70 


"just  where  you  would  expect  to  find  them,  at  the  old  try  sting  place. 
They  brood  over  the  centre  of  the  garden  like  Philemon  and  Baucis, 
and  are  stationed  on  either  side  of  tht  main  walk.  Unfortunately, 
both  trees  were  badly  hurt  by  the  continental  ice  storm  a  few  years 
ago,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  will  survive  another  century." 


71 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Pines  of  Roanoke  Island — The  Pines  of  Canastota — Coaquannock 
— The  Delancey  Pine — The  Old  Pine  of  Dartmouth  College. 

THE  PINES  OF  ROANOKE  ISLAND 

Roanoke  Island,  N.  C.,  is  distinguished  as  the  spot  where  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  founded  the  first  English  colony  in  America.  This 
historic  ground  is  still  marked  by  old  Fort  Raleigh,  where  on  August 
18, 1587,  occurred  the  birth  of  Virginia  Dare,  the  first  white  child  born 
on  the  American  continent. 

Close  by  the  fort  stood  two  ancient  pines,  both  trees  of  note  and 
witnesses  of  the  early  days  of  the  Lost  Colony,  as  the  little  band  of 
settlers  has  been  christened.  One  of  the  oldest  and  most  picturesque 
of  Indian  legends  is  that  concerning  the  fate  of  Virginia  Dare,  after 
the  colony  had  removed  to  the  mainland  where  she  was  believed  to 
have  grown  to  young  girlhood. 

The  friendly  Croatoan  Indians  among  whom  the  colonists  had 
settled  when  forced  to  flee  from  the  savages  of  Roanoke,  reverenced 
the  white  maiden  and  called  her  Wi-no-na  Ska,  First-born  White 
Daughter.  O-kis-ko,  one  of  the  finest  of  the  young  braves,  was 
madly  in  love  with  her.  But  he  had  a  rival  in  Chico,  the  Sorcerer, 
who,  though  old  enough  to  be  the  girl's  father,  was  determined  to 
wed  her  or  to  allow  no  one  else  to  do  so.  Virginia  did  not  fancy  Chico, 
of  that  the  crafty  old  man  was  aware,  but  the  kind-hearted  maiden 
would  not  offend  him  and  was  always  gracious  to  her  ancient  suitor, 
though  O-kis-ko  was  her  choice. 

As  the  earliest  settlers  had  found,  the  rivers  of  the  region 
abounded  in  "great  store  of  mussels  in  which  there  are  pearls,"  and 
Chico,  versed  in  the  secrets  of  Indian  magic,  set  about  utilizing  them 
for  his  purpose. 

"Such  pearls  are  the  souls  of  Naiads, 
Who  have  disobeyed  the  Sea-King, 
And  in  mussel-shells  are  prisoned 
For  this  taint  of  human  frailty. 
When  by  man  released  from  durance 
These  souls,  grateful  for  their  freedom, 
Are  his  slaves,  and  ever  render 
Good  or  evil  at  his  bidding. 

Chico  steeped  each  one  he  gathered 
In  a  bath  of  mystic  brewing; 
Told  each  purple,  pieded  pearl-drop 
What  the  evil  was  he  plotted. 
Never  once  his  purpose  wavered, 
Never  once  his  fury  lessened; 
Nursing  vengeance  as  a  guerdon 
While  the  mussel-pearls  he  polished." 

Then,  having  built  a  canoe  for  the  occasion,  and  invited  Virginia 
to  paddle  across  to  Roanoke  with  him,  in  search  of  grapes,  he  pre- 
72 


sented  her  with  the  necklace  he  had  made.  The  pearls,  lying  close 
about  her  white  throat,  could  do  her  no  harm  while  on  the  water,  for 
there  the  Sea-King  held  sway,  but  when  the  canoe  grated  on  the 
pebbles  of  the  island,  and  she  stepped  ashore,  the  maiden  vanishd,  and 
in  her  place  a  white  doe  sprang  gracefully  forward  and  disappeared 
in  the  thicket. 

As  Chico  floated  swiftly  away,  his  song  was  borne  over  the  water: 

"Go,  white  doe,  hide  in  the  forest, 
Feed  upon  the  sweet  wild  grasses; 
No  winged  arrow  e'er  shall  harm  you, 
No  red  hunter  e'er  shall  win  you; 
Roam  forever,  fleet  and  fearless, 
Living  free,  and  yet  in  fetters." 

Far  and  wide  Virginia's  friends  searched  for  her,  but  without 
success.  Then  O-lds-ko  overheard  the  old  women  sagely  whispering 
to  one  another  of  Chico's  wiles,  saying  that  he  had  bewitched  the  girl, 
and  changed  her  into  a  white  doe.  Believing  them,  O-kis-ko  tried,  in 
vain,  to  capture  the  animal.  At  length,  despairing,  he  sought  We- 
nau-don,  the  magician  of  Po-mou-ik,  who  had  long  cherished  a  grudge 
against  Chico.  We-nau-don  had  bathed  in  the  Naiad's  magic  spring, 
whose  powerful  waters  held  the  secret  of  perpeutal  youth  and  brought 
success  in  love.  He  instructed  O-kis-ko  to  make  an  arrow  of  witch 
hazel  and  fasten  it  to  a  triangle  of  three  purple  mussel-pearls,  and  a 
heron's  wing,  and  taught  him  to  repeat  the  charm, 

"Mussel-pearl  arrow,  to  her  heart  go; 
Loosen  the  fetters  which  bind  the  white  doe; 
Bring  the  lost  maiden  back  to  O-kis-ko." 

Wingina,  a  neighboring  chief,  becoming  annoyed  at  the  tales  he 
heard  of  the  white  doe  that  none  could  take  prisoner,  made  a  feast 
and  invited  the  tribes  to  join  in  a  hunt  for  her.  The  Croatoans  did 
not  reply  to  the  invitation,  for  they  believed  the  doe  to  be  Virginia's 
spirit,  and  fearful  of  harming  her,  would  take  no  part  in  the  chase. 
O-kis-ko,  thinking  to  set  the  maiden  free,  offered  to  try  his  arrow  and 
so  did  a  boastful  hunter  named  Wau-che-se. 

On  Roanoke  Island,  Wau-che-se  stationed  himself  beneath  a  pine 
tree,  while  O-kis-ko  was  concealed  in  the  shrubbery  nearby.  In  a  few 
moments,  the  white  doe  appeared,  stepping  cautiously,  at  the  head  of 
the  herd.  O-kis-ko  bent  his  bow  and  softly  repeating  the  charm  three 
times,  sent  the  dart  of  witch  hazel  straight  to  her  breast.  The  deer 
vanished  and  before  him  stood  the  lost  maiden.  But  scarcely  had  he 
beheld  her  before  she  fell  at  his  feet,  slain  by  Wau-che-se's  silver 
arrow,  begging  O-kis-ko,  with  her  last  breath,  to  remember  her 
forever. 

As  Virginia's  blood  mingled  with  the  water  of  the  magic  spring 
by  which  she  had  fallen,  it  became  dry,  and  O-kis-ko,  bending  eagerly 
forward,  saw  a  little  green  shoot  springing  up  from  the  bed  of  the 
spring,  toward  the  sunlight.  Sorrowfully  lie  buried  the  silver  arrow 
under  the  twigs  and  leaves,  and  inconsolable  at  his  loss,  visited  the  spot 

73 


again  and  again.    The  tiny  shoot  that  he  had  seen  grew  swiftly  till 
it  formed  a  leafy  bower  where  the  spring  had  been. 

O-kis-ko,  sitting  often  beneath  its  shade,  noticed  that  clusters 
of  rich  purple  grapes  hung  from  the  branches  and  yielded  red  juice 
instead  of  the  white  wine  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed.  Tradition 
says  that  this  was  the  origin  of  the  purple  Scuppernong  grape,  a  vine 
that  was  abundant  in  the  vicinity,  but  had  formerly  borne  only  white 
fruit.  Believing  the  red  juice  to  be  the  lost  maiden's  blood,  O-kis-ko 
came  frequently  to  drink  it,  praying  that  it  would  nourish  him  and 
lead  him  to  her  hereafter. 

The  legend  of  the  white  doe  is  found,  at  least  in  part,  "wherever 
in  our  land  forests  abound  and  deer  abide."  A  white  doe  is  considered 
an  evil  omen,  and  it  is  believed  that  only  a  silver  arrow  is  fatal  to  her. 

Though  the  members  of  Raleigh's  settlement  on  Roanoke  were 
long  known  as  the  Lost  Colony,  on  account  of  their  complete  dis- 
appearance from  the  island,  the  title  is  a  misnomer.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  they  found  a  home  among  the  friendly  Indians  of  the 
mainland,  and  that  their  descendants  are  living  in  North  Carolina 
today. 

Sir  Francis  Nelson,  who  visited  the  region  about  1608,  recorded 
that  he  was  told  of  people  living  inland  "who  wore  clothes  and  lived 
in  houses  built  with  stone  walls,  and  one  story  above  another,  so 
taught  them  by  the  Englishmen  who  escaped  the  slaughter  of 
Roanoke."  Lawson,  the  first  historian  of  the  Carolinas,  says  he 
learned  from  the  Hatterask  Indians  that  several  of  their  ancestors 
were  white  people  and  could  "talk  in  a  book."  A  tribe  of  Indians 
living  in  Harnet  and  Robeson  Counties,  N.  C.,  believe  themselves  to 
be  descended  from  Raleigh's  colonists  and  the  Cherokee  Indians,  who 
lived  together  along  the  Neuse  River.  The  Croatoans  show  evidences 
of  white  blood,  being  good  builders,  and  having  to  their  credit  some  of 
the  best  roads  in  the  State,  over  one  of  which,  the  Lowrie  Road,  a 
messenger  carried  the  news  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  to  General  Jack- 
son, in  1815.  This  tribe  is  also  remarkable  as  speaking  more  correct 
English  than  many  of  their  white  neighbors. 

In  1906,  the  younger  of  the  two  pines  at  Fort  Raleigh  was  cut 
down,  as  it  had  for  some  time  showe/l  signs  of  decay.  Close  to  the 
centre  of  its  trunk  an  arrow-head  was  found  inbedded,  probably  shot 
there  by  an  Indian  when  the  tree  was  a  sapling,  nearly  four  centuries 
ago.  Its  companion,  known  as  the  Eagle  Pine,  had  a  wide-spreading 
top  used  by  eagles  for  a  nesting-place  for  uncounted  years,  until  in 
1876  a  storm  laid  the  great  tree  low. 

THE  PINES  OF  CANASTOTA 

Canastota,  N.  Y.,  was  originally  an  Indian  village  and  derived 
its  name  from  an  Indian  word  Kaniste,  "cluster  of  pines" ;  the  suffix, 
sota  meaning  "still  silent,  motionless."  The  three  tall  pines,  from 
which  it  took  its  name,  grew  on  the  bank  of  Canastota  Creek,  and 

74 


one  which  had  partly  fallen,  lodged  in  the  branches  of  the  other  two, 
forming  a  bower  that  became  a  favorite  resting-place  for  the  red  men. 
The  trees  were  appreciated  and  preserved  by  Captain  Reuben  Per- 
kins, first  white  settler  of  the  region.  When  he  obtained  the  patent 
for  the  site  in  March,  1810,  he  built  his  home  beside  the  cluster  of 
pines. 

COAQUANNOCK 

When  William  Perm  founded  his  City  of  Philadelphia,  on  the 
bank  of  the  Delaware,  he  chanced  upon  a  place  already  noted  for  its 
trees. 

Before  the  coming  of  the  white  men,  perhaps  centuries  earlier, 
the  Indians  had  called  the  spot  Coaquannock,  "The  place  of  tall 
pines,"  distinguishing  it  by  the  beauty  of  these  rugged  evergreens  in 
a  region  thickly  grown  with  forest  trees  of  various  sorts.  "The  woods 
of  oak,  hickory  and  firs  covering  both  shores  made  a  fine  appearance,'' 
wrote  Peter  Kalm,  the  Swedish  botanist,  more  than  half  a  century 
later,  describing  his  voyage  up  the  Delaware,  even  long  after  its  rich 
woodland  had  been  thinned  by  the  settler's  axe. 

John  Watson,  the  city's  chronicler,  tells  us  that  in  1682,  the  year 
of  Penn's  treaty  with  the  Indians,  Philadelphia  had  "a  high  and  dry 
bank,  next  to  the  water,  with  a  shore  ornamented  with  a  fine  view  of 
pine  trees  growing  upon  it."  He  adds  that,  as  the  ship  "Shields  from 
Hull"  sailed  up  the  river,  a  few  years  earlier,  its  masts  became  en- 
tangled with  the  branches  of  overhanging  trees,  and  one  of  the 
passengers  exclaimed,  "What  a  fine  place  for  a  town!" 

THE  DELANCEY  PINE 

The  Delancey  Pine,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height,  which 
stood  within  the  boundaries  of  New  York  City's  Zoological  Park, 
numbered  its  years  at  three  hundred  and  sixty,  when  it  was  felled  in 
1912.  More  than  a  century  previous  it  had  shaded  the  home  of  the 
Royalist,  Colonel  James  Delancey,  of  the  Westchester  Light  Horse, 
High  Sheriff  from  1770  to  1777.  * 

THE  OLD  PINE  OF  DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE 

The  "Old  Pine"  of  Dartmouth  College  at  Hanover,  N.  H., 
dated  back  at  least  as  far  as  1783.  It  has  been  endeared  to  the  alumni 
as  the  centre  of  class-day  exercises  and  other  celebrations  (one  of 
which  was  the  tarring  and  feathering  of  a  man  who  was  charged 
with  crime,)  during  the  greater  part  of  a  century.  General  Scott's 
nomination  was  marked  by  a  cannon  salute  from  under  its  branches, 
but  as  Professor  Hubbard's  house  was  struck  by  a  stone,  mischiev- 
ously smuggled  into  the  cannon,  festivities  ended  abruptly. 

There  was  a  tradition,  which  proved  to  be  unfounded,  however, 
that  in  the  early  days,  three  Indian  students  stood  around  the  old  tree, 
singing  in  farewell  to  one  another,  "When  shall  we  three  meet  again?" 

75 


The  legend  was  a  singularly  appropriate  one,  as  Dartmouth  College 
was  founded  for  the  education  of  the  Indians,  funds  for  it  having 
been  collected  by  Samson  Occum,  the  Mohican  who  accompanied 
Whitefield  to  England,  and  there  stated  the  claims  of  his  people.  He 
received  contribution  to  the  amount  of  $6,000  (some  of  it  from  the 
King)  which  he  devoted  to  the  needs  of  the  College. 

In  1892,  the  news  spread  among  the  alumni,  "The  Old  Pine  is 
dying;"  efforts  were  made  to  preserve  it,  but  to  no  avail,  and  in 
1895  it  was  cut  down,  the  last  class-day  having  been  celebrated  be- 
neath its  branches.  The  tree  was  seventy-one  feet  high,  and  a  shot 
wa^_found  imbedded  in  the  seventy-ninth  ring  from  the  outside.  The 
stump,  four  feet  in  height,  is  all  that  remains  to  tell  the  tale  of  former 
grandeur.  It  has  been  treated  with  a  preservative,  and  is  a  valued 
relic. 


76 


cd  •* 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Jane  McCrea  Pine — Abolition  Grove — Holmes  and  Whittier 
Pines — The  Kit  Carson  Tree— The  McKinley  Tree— The 
Sequoias,  Big  Trees  and  Redwoods. 

THE  JANE  MCCREA  PINE 

A  pine  tree,  that  witnessed  the  tragic  death  of  Jane  McCrea, 
stood  at  Sandy  Hill,  in  New  York  State.  The  young  girl,  who  was 
engaged  to  marry  David  Jones,  an  officer  in  Peters'  Regiment  of 
Loyalists,  set  out  to  meet  her  lover  at  his  brother's  home,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  General  Frazer's  camp,  escorted  by  two  Indians,  one  of 
whom  was  the  Huron  Chief,  Wyandotte  Panther. 

A  keg  of  rum  had  been  promised  the  two  savages  if  she  were 
delivered  in  safety  at  her  destination,  but  on  the  way,  they  began 
quarreling  over  the  reward,  and  in  order  to  prevent  his  companion 
from  enjoying  any  of  it,  Wyandotte  Panther  scalped  the  maiden 
under  the  pine  tree.  The  crime  was  committed  on  June  27th,  the  day 
before  Burgoyne  broke  camp  at  Fort  Edward.  The  massacre  filled 
the  countryside  with  horror. 

ABOLITION  GROVE 

The  white  pine,  with  its  smooth  bark  and  soft,  bluish-green  tas- 
sels, is  the  most  beautiful  of  its  family,  and  also  invested  with  much 
historic  interest.  The  splendid  group  of  white  pines  at  Abington, 
Mass.,  known  as  Island  Grove,  or  more  frequently  as  Abolition  Grove, 
has  been  called  "the  place  where  the  Civil  War  began."  Here,  noted 
men  and  women  frequently  made  eloquent  speeches  advocating  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  Webster  and  Garrison  were  botti  among  the 
many  speakers,  adding  their  efforts  to  prove  "that  slavery  can  only 
be  overthrown  by  adherence  to  principle."  Meetings  of  the  aboli- 
tionists were  held  in  the  grove,  annually,  from  1846  to  1865.  A  great 
boulder,  bearing  a  copper  plate  with  a  long  inscription,  designates  the 
spot  where  the  speakers  stood. 

HOLMES  AND  WHITTIER  PINES 

Two  white  pines,  one  in  Massachusetts,  the  other  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, were  ardently  venerated  and  loved  by  two  of  our  best  known 
American  poets.  The  splendid  specimen  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  noted  as 
the  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  Pines,  is  ninety-seven  feet  in  height,  and 
its  branches  cast  their  shade  over  an  area  of  almost  ninety  feet. 

"Whittier's  Pine  Tree,"  which  the  Quaker  poet  dedicated  in 
1886,  as  the  "Wood  Giant,"  stands  on  the  Sturtevant  Farm,  near 
Sunset  Hill,  Centre  Harbor,  N.  H. 

77 


"Among  the  scattered  groups  of  pines,"  says  Agnes  L.  Scott, 
describing  the  venerable  tree,  "Whittier's  tree  stands  compact,  like 
a  silent  patriarch,  with  a  splendor  all  its  own.  Its  chief  characteristic 
is  its  magnificent  strength,  enormous  trunk  and  powerful  boughs  that 
give  it  the  appearance  of  a  giant."  Every  day,  it  was  the  poet's 
custom  to  walk  to  the  great  pine  and  watch  the  sunrise  from  beneath 
its  branches. 

"Here  he  saw  to  the  East  the  Cardigan  Mountains ;  to  the  North, 
the  Sandwich  Range;  to  the  West,  the  Ossipie  Range;  and  here  he 
saw  the  beautiful  broad  view  of  Squaw  Lake  with  its  green  wooded 
islands." 

THE  KIT  CARSON  TREE 

The  Native  Sons  of  California  have  erected  a  monument  mark- 
ing the  site  of  the  pine  oh  which  Kit  Carson  carved  his  name,  in  1844, 
when  acting  as  a  guide  to  Colonel  Fremont.  It  was  on  this  trip  that 
the  Colonel  discovered  Lake  Tahoe.  The  pine,  which  stood  in  a  pass 
in  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  was  cut  down  in  1888.  A  full 
account  of  its  history  has  been  placed  in  the  monument. 

THE  McKiNLEY  TREE 

The  tall,  spreading  pine  on  the  Hotel  Champlain  Golf  Course 
gained  its  fame  as  the  favorite  resting-place  of  the  late  President 
William  McKinley,  during  a  summer  visit  to  the  hotel  at  Bluff  Point, 
when  he  made  the  Hotel  Champlain  the  "summer  capitol."  A  re- 
markable coincidence,  which  further  distinguished  the  tree,  was  that 
on  the  very  day  on  which  the  President  was  assassinated,  the  pine 
was  struck  by  lightning  and  its  upper  part  broken  off. 

THE  SEQUOIAS,  BIG  TREES  AND  REDWOODS 
Once  abundant  over  the  whole  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  in 
Europe,  Siberia,  Alaska,  Greenland  and  Canada,  as  well  as  in 
America,  the  Sequoias  are  now  represented  by  only  two  species,  both 
natives  of  California;  S.  gigantea,  the  Big  Tree,  and  S.  sempervirens, 
the  Redwood  of  the  Coast  Range.  They  are  universally  conceded  to 
be  the  oldest  living  things  on  earth,  the  age  of  those  which  have  been 
cut,  averaging  from  eleven  hundred  to  three  thousand,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years,  while  the  two  known  as  the  Grizzly  Giant  and  the 
General  Sherman  Tree  are  estimated  to  be  of  far  greater  age.  In 
height  the  Big  Trees  vary  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet,  and  naturalists  have  calculated,  that,  judging 
from  the  tapering  of  the  trunk,  they  would  normally  have  reached 
six  hundred  feet,  if  left  unmolested  by  wind  and  fire.  In  circumfer- 
ence they  average  from  five  to  twenty-five  feet  at  shoulder  height 
above  ground.  Many  attain- a  much  greater  size,  and  the  famous 
General  Sherman  Tree  measures  one  hundred  and  three  feet  around 
the  trunk. 

"How  old  the  oldest  trees  may  be  is  not  yet  certain,"  says  Dr. 
Ellsworth  Huntington,  of  the  Department  of  Geography,  Yale  Uni- 

78 


versity.  "But  I  have  counted  the  rings  of  forty  that  were  over  two 
thousand  years  of  age,  of  three  that  were  over  three  thousand  and  of 
one  that  was  three  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty." 

The  first  white  man  to  have  a  glimpse  of  these  forest  giants  was 
probably  General  John  Bidwell  of  California,  who  arrived  in  1841, 
with  a  party  of  emigrants.  Reporting  the  marvelous  trees  to  General 
Fremont,  lie  found  his  story  scorned.  A  similar  reception  awaited 
Mr.  Dowd,  a  hunter  who  is  said  to  have  found  himself  in  the  Calaveras 
Grove,  and  was,  naturally,  lost  in  wonder  at  what  he  saw.  Returning 
to  his  companions,  at  their  camp,  his  story  was  ridiculed.  Shortly 
afterward,  while  hunting,  he  succeeded  in  guiding  them  into  the  grove, 
and  letting  them  see  for  themselves. 

The  Big  Trees  now  became  known  far  and  wide.  Cones  and 
leaves  were  shipped  to  Gary  and  Torrey,  the  botanists,  but  were  lost 
on  the  voyage.  It  remained  for  a  British  naturalist,  William  Lobb, 
to  transplant  specimens  to  England,  and  for  Dr.  Lindley  of  London 
to  record  the  tree  as  a  new  genus  and  name  it  after  the  Iron  Duke, 
Wellingtonia  Gigantea.  The  Redwoods  had  already  been  known  to 
scientists  for  many  years,  however,  and  had  been  classified  under  the 
name  of  Sequoia.  Decaisne,  a  French  botanist,  decided  that  the  Big 
Tree  was  unquestionably  another  member  of  the  same  genus,  and 
christened  it  Sequoia  Gigantea,  by  which  name  we  know  it  today. 

An  American,  Dr.  C.  E.  Winslow,  becoming  jealous  for  the  fame 
of  his  own  country,  soon  afterward  published  a  letter,  dated  August 
8,  1854,  in  the  "California  Farmer,"  urging  that  the  Big  Trees  should 
logically  be  named  for  Washington,  Washingtonia  Calif ornica.  But 
though  some  writers  have  adhered  to  this  name,  it  was  never  adopted 
by  botanists.  The  name  Sequoia,  it  may  be  added,  which  had  already 
been  bestowed  upon  the  Redwoods,  was  given  in  honors  of  the  noted 
Cherokee,  Sequoyah,  who  invented  the  first  alphabet  ever  used  by 
the  Indians.  The  perpetuation  of  his  name  in  this  way  was  considered 
an  act  of  poetic  justice  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  Government. 

The  Redwoods  of  the  Coast  Range  live  only  about  half  as  long 
as  the  average  Big  Tree,  generally  from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand 
three  hundred  years,  probably  somewhat  longer.  Their  circumference 
is  usually  sixteen  feet,  though  the  largest  known  measures  thirty- 
three  feet,  and  their  height  varies  from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred 
and  forty  feet.  As  the  Redwood  is  an  evergreen  its  name,  sempervir- 
ens,  is  well  given.  It  has  been  described  as  a  "beautiful,  cheerful  and 
very  brave  tree.  Burned  and  hacked  and  butchered,  it  sprouts  up 
again  with  a  vitality  truly  amazing.  It  is  the  marvelous  capacity  for 
new  growth  from  trunk  or  from  root  saplings,  which  is  perhaps  the 
most  interesting  character  of  the  Redwood  in  contrast  with  the  Big 
Tree,  which  has  no  such  means  of  regeneration  and  must  depend  on 
its  cones  for  reproduction." 

It  was  in  October,  1769,  that  the  Redwoods  were  first  seen  by 
white  men.  An  entry  of  that  date  in  the  diary  of  Padre  Crespi,  a 

79 


Spanish  missionary,  mentions  seeing  them,  near  where  the  town  of 
Santa  Cruz,  CaL,  'now  stands.  As  such  trees  were  entirely  new  to 
him  and  his  party,  they  received  a  Spanish  name  meaning  red,  from 
the  "color  of  the  wood. 

Unfortunately,  redwood  timber  has  been  found  to  be  of  excellent 
quality.  A  forest  of  these  trees  will  yield  from  one  hundred  thousand 
to  one  million  feet  of  timber.  Incredible  as  it  seems  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  protect  these  giant  forests,  both  of  Redwoods  and  Big 
Trees  from  the  lumberman's  axe.  "It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  dwell 
on  the  crime  involved  in  the  destruction  of  the  oldest  and  tallest  trees 
on  earth,"  says  Madison  Grant. 

"The  cutting  of  a  Sequoia  for  grape-stakes  or  railroad  ties  .  .  . 
is  like  breaking  up  one's  grandfather's  clock  for  kindling  to  save  the 
trouble  of  splitting  logs  at  the  wood  pile,  or  lighting  one's  pipe  with 
a  Greek  manuscript  to  save  the  trouble  of  reaching  for  matches." 

Thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  "Save  the  Redwoods  League,"  which 
began  its  work  in  1917,  much  has  been  done  to  rouse  public  sentiment 
on  the  question,  and  to  pave  the  way  for  establishing  a  Redwood  Park. 
America  is  greatly  indebted  to  the  National  Geographical  Society 
for  its  co-operation  with  the  Government  in  presenting  to  the  people 
for  a  park  the  Giant  Forest  of  Big  Trees  which  is  the  largest  body  of 
trees  of  this  kind  in  existence,  and  one  of  Nature's  greatest  marvels. 

One  of  the  few  Sequoias  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  prob- 
ably the  only  one  of  its  age  in  the  east,  grows  by  the  roadside  in  a  field 
in  Delaware  County,  Penn.,  about  twenty  miles  from  Philadelphia. 

The  tree  is  a  true  Sequoia  Gigantea,  but  it  is  a  mere  infant  of 
its  species,  being  probably  between  seventy-five  and  eighty  years  of 
age,  and  was  brought  from  California  to  one  of  the  early  botanists  of 
Pennsylvania,  about  the  year  1850.  Thirty-five  feet  in  height  and 
with  a  circumference  of  two  feet,  it  has  a  long  life  in  prospect,  pro- 
vided it  can  withstand  the  occasional  severity  of  eastern  winters. 
About  half  a  mile  distant,  in  the  historic  old  botanic  garden  known  as 
Painters'  Arboretum  and  formerly  owned  by  the  brothers  Jacob  and 
Minshall  Painter,  is  another  Sequoia,  S.  sempervirens.  This  is  a 
Redwood,  said  to  be  the  only  survivor  of  six  of  its  kind,  which  were 
also  brought  from  the  Pacific  coast,  two  of  them  for  the  Painters,  and 
the  remainder  for  two  other  botanists,  Evans  and  Meehan. 


80 


B.S 

o  c 
u.- 


B!   g. 


CHAPTER  XV 

Daniel  Boone's  "Bar  Tree" — Beech  of  Great  Cloud  Island — A  Beech 
of  Milwaukee — Beeches  of  Camp  Robinson — Origin  of  Weeping 
Beeches — Black  Walnut  of  Stony  Point — Whipping  Tree  of  Fish- 
kill— Black  Walnut  of  Maplewood— Walnut  Beside  Washington's 
Tomb — The  Treaty  Tree  of  Philipse  Manor. 

DANIEL  BOONE'S  "BAR  TREE" 

At  Cumberland  Gap,  the  famous  mountain  pass  near  the  borders 
of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  is  a  tablet,  placed  there  by  the  Tennessee 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  and  bearing  these  words:  "Daniel 
Boone's  Trail  from  North  Carolina  to  Kentucky,  1769." 

Nearby,  on  the  bank  of  Carroll  Creek  which  flows  into  the  Wat- 
auga  River,  is  an  immense  beech  known  as  "Daniel  Boone's  Bar 
Tree,"  from  the  inscription  cut  in  the  bark,  "D  Boone  cill  EDA 
B  A  R  On  tree  in  the  Y  E  A  R  1760."  The  trunk  of  the  beech 
measures  twenty-eight  and  one-half  feet  around,  at  a  distance  of  four 
and  one-half  feet  from  the  ground,  and  its  height  would  equal  eighty- 
five  feet  if  it  stood  erect ;  it  leans  south,  however,  at  an  angle  of  thirty 
degrees.  The  United  States  Forest  Service  has  estimated  its  age  at 
from  three  hundred  and  forty  to  three  hundred  and  sixty  years. 

The  Forest  Examiner,  Mr.  Wilbur  R.  Mattoon,  describes  the 
tree  as  "a  living  record  of  an  event  in  the  life  of  probably  the  first 
white  man  to  venture  into  the  heavy  forests  formerly  covering  the 
western  slopes  of  the  middle  Appalachians."  Inhabitants  of  the 
region  told  Mr.  Mattoon  that  the  original  inscreption  was  legible  as 
late  as  from  1875  to  1885,  a  surprisingly  long  period  for  it  to  endure. 
The  figures  1815  carved  also  on  the  trunk  can  still  be  clearly  read, 
but  we  have  no  record  of  the  event  to  which  they  refer. 

BEECH  OF  GREAT  CLOUD  ISLAND 

The  only  beech  tree  ever  known  to  grow  within  the  borders  of 
Minnesota,  stood  on  Great  Cloud  Island,  in  the  Mississippi  River, 
between  St.  Paul  and  Hastings.  It  is  mentioned  in  the  journal  kept 
by  Major  Thomas  Forsythe,  a  member  of  Colonel  Leaven  worth's 
expedition  of  1819,  which  was  sent  out  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
Fort  Snelling.  The  Indians  called  the  tree  "Medicine  Wood,"  sig- 
nifying "simply  miraculous  or  wonderful  tree." 

Forsythe  comments  on  it  was  follows:  "Medicine  Wood  takes 
its  name  from  a  large  beech  tree,  which  kind  of  wood  the  Sioux  are 
not  acquainted  with,  and  supposing  that  the  Great  Spirit  has  placed 
it  there  as  a  genii  to  protect  or  punish  them  according  to  their  merits 
or  demerits." 

81 


A  BEECH  OF  MILWAUKEE 

Another  historic  beech  stood,  some  years  ago,  near  the  corner  of 
13th  and  Wells  Streets,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  and  was  evidently  a  relic 
of  very  early  times.  Upon  its  trunk  was  carved  the  figure  of  an 
Indian  holding  in  one  hand  an  arrow  pointing  toward  the  Menominee 
River,  in  the  other  hand  a  bow  pointing  toward  the  Milwaukee.  The 
tree  is  no  longer  standing,  and  its  loss  is  much  to  be  regretted. 

BEECHES  OF  CAMP  ROBINSON 

Standing  in  Riverside  Park,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  a  handsome 
grove  of  beech  trees  recalls  the  days  of  the  Civil  War.  Nearly  sixty 
years  ago,  the  grove  was  known  as  Camp  Robinson,  the  spot  selected 
by  General  Wallace,  (widely  known  as  the  author  of  "Ben-Hur") ,  as 
the  rendezvous  of  the  Eleventh  Indian  regiment  while  it  was  being 
fitted  for  service. 

The  trees  occupy  an  elevation  above  White  River,  and  when  the 
camp  was  established  there,  the  surrounding  country  was  heavily 
wooded,  an  ideal  place  for  concentration  upon  the  task  in  hand.  Some 
of  the  spare  time  of  the  soldiers  was  spent  in  carving  names  and 
initials  on  the  beech  trunks,  and  during  the  long  years  that  have 
followed,  the  bark  has  grown  over  the  letters  in  such  a  way  that  they 
stand  out  as  if  embossed,  and  are  more  clearly  legible  today  than 
when  they  were  cut. 

ORIGIN  OF  WEEPING  BEECHES 

On  the  Jackson  Place  at  Flushing,  N.  Y.,  is  a  magnificent  weep- 
ing beech  to  which  is  attached  an  interesting  bit  of  history.  Over  a 
century  ago,  Baron  De  Mar,  a  Belgian  noble,  was  watching  the 
transplanting,  on  his  estate  in  Belgium,  of  several  European  beech 
trees.  Noticing  one  whose  branches  were  hanging  so  that  it  appeared 
almost  deformed,  he  directed  the  gardener  to  throw  it  out.  The  latter, 
however,  considered  the  odd  looking  specimen  worth  attention,  and 
proceeded  to  care  for  it  until  it  repaid  his  efforts  by  developing  into 
the  graceful  tree,  that  is  now  known  as  the  drooping  or  weeping  beech. 
When  Baron  De  Mar  saw  the  novel  specimen  he  was  delighted,  and 
shoots  from  it  were  sent  to  his  friends  in  France. 

In  1847,  Samuel  B.  Parsons,  a  nurseryman  of  Flushing,  while 
traveling  in  Europe  in  search  of  unusual  plants,  purchased  a  descen- 
dant of  the  De  Mar  beech.  He  planted  it  in  a  flower  pot  and  brought 
it  back  to  Flushing  as  part  of  his  personal  luggage.  There  it  grew 
and  matured  into  the  beautiful  tree  that  stands  at  present  on  the 
Jackson  Place,  in  all  probability  the  first  weeping  beech  of  America. 

BLACK  WALNUT  OF  STONY  POINT 

Occupying  literally,  "the  centre  of  the  stage,"  with  no  companion 
near,  to  bear  an  equal  share  in  dignity  of  years  or  of  historic  associa- 

82 


tions,  an  ancient  black  walnut  near  the  town  of  Stony  Point,  N.  Y.,  is 
the  sole  surviving  witness  of  events  connected  with  the  memorable 
battle  of  Stony  Point. 

On  the  bank  of  the  Hudson  River,  rises  the  Point,  a  "defiant 
promontory  with  rocky  and  wooded  faces  .  .  .  fittingly  described  as 
a  natural  sentinel  guarding  the  gateway  of  the  far-famed  Highlands 
of  the  Hudson."  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  at  its  highest 
point,  it  juts  out  into  the  river  half  a  mile  from  shore;  on  the  inland 
side  is  marshy  ground,  which  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  was  deep 
and  treacherous.  No  wonder  that  such  a  natural  fortress  was  called 
"little  Gibraltar."  And  no  wonder  the  British  troops  felt  secure  in 
such  a  stronghold. 

The  belief  has  been  handed  down  among  the  residents  of  Stony 
Point,  that  under  the  old  walnut  tree  Washington  paid  the  men  after 
the  battle.  There  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  the  statement;  certainly 
not  on  the  question  of  age,  for  the  tree  was  undeniably  there  at  the 
time,  and  when  intact,  its  branches  must  have  cast  a  breadth  of  shade 
that  would  have  rendered  the  spot  most  fitting  for  the  occasion.  For 
the  assault  took  place  during  July,  and  no  doubt  the  sun  of  midsum- 
mer beat  down  as  relentlessly  in  1780,  as  at  present. 

Four  feet  above  the  ground,  the  massive  trunk  measures  twenty- 
one  feet  in  circumference,  and  four  feet  further  up,  it  divides  into  two 
parts,  rising  to  a  height  of  approximately  eighty  feet.  Subject  by  its 
exposed  position  to  a  severe  sweep  of  the  wind,  the  southern  fork  has 
been  torn  away,  and  this  veritable  monarch  of  the  countryside  stands 
pathetically  shorn  of  its  former  glory. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  no  adequate  attempt  has  been 
made  to  preserve  this  natural  monument  of  a  stirring  page  in  our 
country's  history. 

WHIPPING  TREE  OF  FISHKILL 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Hudson*  on  the  old  Albany  Post  Road, 
two  miles  south  of  the  village  of  Fishkill,  N.  Y.,  stood,  until  about 
a  dozen  years  ago,  a  black  walnut,  used  during  the  Revolution  as  a 
whipping  tree.  It  was  the  custom,  when  punishing  offenders  beneath 
such  trees,  to  fasten  them  by  their  thumbs  to  iron  spikes  or  nails 
driven  into  the  trunk.  It  was,  of  course,  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
this  must  have  been  done  in  the  case  of  this  black  walnut,  but  in 
later  years  no  traces  of  the  metal  were  visible.  When,  however,  the 
old  tree  finally  lay  prone  on  the  ground,  and  was  chopped  into  fire- 
wood, the  axe  met  an  obstruction,  and  investigation  brought  to  light 
the  iron  collar,  driven  full  of  huge  nails,  that  had  partly  encircled 
the  trunk,  and  over  which,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  bark  had  grown, 
entirely  covering  it. 

The  field  in  which  the  whipping  tree  stood  was  a  camping  ground 
of  the  American  troops,  while  almost  opposite,  across  the  road,  is  the 
old  Wharton  homestead,  used  as  headquarters  by  their  officers,  and 

83 


also  famous  as  the  scene  of  many  episodes  in  Cooper's  novel,  "The 

Spy." 

BLACK  WALNUT  OF  MAPLEWOOD 

The  large,  spreading  black  walnut  still  standing  in  front  of 
Timothy  Ball's  house  at  Maplewood,  N.  J.,  was  planted  in  1743,  the 
year  that  the  house  was  built.  A  magnificent  shade  tree,  and  still 
bearing  a  plentiful  crop  of  nuts,  it  is  rich  in  historic  association.  The 
Balls  were  Washington's  cousins,  and  the  General  often  visited  them, 
and  tied  his  horse  to  an  iron  ring  in  the  trunk  of  the  walnut.  Old 
people,  still  living,  remember  when  the  ring  was  visible,  though  now 
it  is  doubtless  hidden  by  the  growth  of  the  trunk  around  it. 

The  old  tree  also  served  another  purpose ;  it  stood  about  half-way 
between  two  Presbyterian  churches,  and  was  considered  to  mark  the 
dividing  line  between  them.  Residents  to  the  north  of  it  were  ex- 
pected to  attend  the  Orange  church,  those  living  south  the  Springfield 
church. 

WALNUT  BESIDE  WASHINGTON'S  TOMB 

This  tree,  planted  by  George  Washington's  father,  and  in  the 
shade  of  which  the  first  President  of  the  United  States  was  buried, 
became  conspicuous  on  account  of  a  large  burl  or  knot  on  its  trunk, 
measuring  five  feet  through,  and  probably  one  hundred  years  old, 
when  removed  and  sent  to  the  National  Museum  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

THE  TREATY  TREE  OF  PHILIPSE  MANOR 

Many  historical  and  literary  associations  cluster  about  the  beauti- 
ful tract  of  country  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  once  known  as 
Philipse  Manor,  N.  Y. 

At  least  a  portion  of  it  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  last  grants  of  land 
in  America  signed  by  William  and  Mary  of  England.  In  1672, 
Frederick  Philipse  purchased  a  large  share  of  it,  originally  in  the 
possession  of  de  Jonkheer  Adrian  Van  der  Donck,  the  future  site  of 
the  town  of  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  and  then  proceeded  to  add  to  his  pro- 
perty until  it  included  thousands  of  acres  of  forest,  field  and  hill. 
His  fine  estate  has  been  described  as  "virtually  a  barony  under  the 
management  and  sway  of  the  masterful  proprietor." 

In  1682,  "the  Dutch  Millionaire"  as  he  was  dubbed,  built  his 
manor-house  near  New  York  City,  and  later  erected  "Castle  Philipse," 
at  Sleepy  Hollow  in  Tarrytown,  N.  Y.  Both  residences  were  hand- 
somely furnished,  and  the  grounds  surrounding  them  were  beautified 
with  imported  shrubbery  and  flowers.  Near  the  "castle"  stands  a 
memento  of  those  early  days,  of  equal,  if  not  greater  interest  than  even 
the  homestead. 

This  is  the  well  known  "Treaty  Tree,"  a  huge  chestnut,  measur- 
ing over  twenty  feet  in  circumference.  Though  the  last  sign  of  life 
has  departed  from  its  leafless  branches,  the  ancient  tree  has  not  been 

84 


felled,  but  is  carefully  preserved  by  the  Philipse  Manor  Company, 
vines  having  been  planted  at  its  base,  and  having  grown  and  twined 
themselves  pityingly  around  the  gaunt  trunk  and  limbs  until  they 
have  rendered  the  former  monarch  of  the  forest  once  more  a  thing  of 
beauty.  Under  the  old  chestnut,  it  is  believed,  was  signed  the  last 
treaty  made  between  the  whites  and  the  Wequadequeek  Indians  who 
lived  in  that  region. 

It  is  told  (and  is  quite  possible)  that  under  its  shade,  also,  Wash- 
ington Irving  wrote  his  tale  of  the  "Headless  Horseman,"  whose 
favorite  resort,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  neighborhood  of  Old 
Sleepy  Hollow  Bridge.  A  short  distance  away,  Irving's  former  resi- 
dence "Sunnyside"  is  situated,  only  a  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  trip 
from  the  tree,  if  one  happens  to  be  motoring. 

The  ancient  chestnut  stands  on  the  Philipse  Manor  property  and 
is  in  plain  sight  from  Broadway,  the  Albany  Post  Road. 


85. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

The  "Old  Washington  Tree"— The  "Big  Chestnut  Tree"  of  Valley 
Cottage— The  Cedarcroft  Chestnut— Indian  Trails  and  Trail 
Trees. 

THE  "OLD  WASHINGTON  TREE" 

The  spreading  chestnut  tree  at  New  Hope,  Penn.,  long  known 
as  the  "Old  Washington  Tree,"  was  not  only  directly  associated  with 
the  Father  of  his  Country,  but  also  marked  a  spot  of  great  strategic 
importance  in  the  struggle  for  American  Independence. 

CoryeU's  Ferry  at  New  Hope,  was  the  best  ferry  on  the  Dela- 
ware River  north  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  and  both  the  British  and 
American  armies  were  desirous  of  controlling  it,  the  former  failing 
more  than  once  to  effect  a  crossing  from  New  Jersey  to  the  Pennsyl- 
vania shore. 

During  December,  1776,  a  large  part  of  the  Continental  Army 
was  encamped  at  New  Hope.  A  month  previous,  Washington  had 
evacuated  Fort  Lee  on  the  Hudson,  opposite  New  York  City,  and 
retreated  across  New  Jersey  to  Trenton,  where,  there  is  little  doubt 
Cornwallis  confidently  expected  to  find  the  Americans  an  easy  prey 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  escaping  across  the  Delaware. 

Thanks,  however,  to  the  patriotic  efforts  of  two  young  men,  Jerry 
Black  and  Daniel  Bray  (later  known  as  General  Bray),  who  were 
acquainted  with  every  boatman  on  the  river,  a  large  enough  fleet  was 
secured  to  carry  the  Continental  troops  safely  across,  at  the  historic 
point  just  above  the  present  town  of  Taylorsville,  N.  J.,  known  to 
history  as  "Washington's  Crossing." 

''Coryell's  Ferry"  on  the  Pennsylvania  shore,  now  became  a  busy 
military  centre. 

"Within  the  limits  of  this  ancient  borough,"  says  Richard  Ran- 
dolph Parry,  "the  eye  rested  everywhere  upon  the  valley,  hillside  and 
fields  dotted  with  the  tents  of  the  Continental  soldiers.  At  the  Neeley 
(Thompson)  farmhouse  were  quartered  Lieut.  James  Monroe,  after- 
ward President  of  the  United  States,  and  other  officers.  Nearby  at 
'Chapman's'  were  General  Knox  and  Captain  Alexander  Hamilton." 
General  Greene  was  at  a  neighboring  farmhouse,  and  General  Sulli- 
van only  a  short  distance  away.  General  Washington's  headquarters 
were  at  the  Keith  farm. 

The  "Old  Washington  Tree"  stood  in  a  field  opposite  General 
De  Fernoy's  and  Lord  Stirling's  headquarters,  and  under  its 
branches,  Washington  and  his  Generals,  Knox,  Sullivan,  Greene  and 
Stirling,  first  discussed  plans  for  the  Battle  of  Trenton  which  was  so 
soon  to  occur. 

86 


Again,  in  1778,  when  Cory  ell's  Ferry,  as  well  as  the  other  cross- 
ings of  the  Delaware,  were  held  in  security  by  American  troops, 
Washington  and  his  staff  rested  at  noonday  in  the  shade  of  the  big 
chestnut,  when  on  their  way  to  attack  General  Clinton's  army  at 
Monmouth,  N.  J. 

On  November  28, 1893,  the  old  tree  was  cut  down,  to  make  room 
for  improvements.  Near  the  spot  which  it  graced  there  is  an  old 
stone  house  once  owned  by  Captain  Edward  F.  Randolph,  a  "patriot 
of  1776,"  who  gave  his  services  to  his  country,  refusing  to  accept  any 
remuneration  for  his  distinguished  military  service. 

THE  "Bio  CHESTNUT  TREE"  OF  VALLEY  COTTAGE 

Valley  Cottage,  N.  Y.,  possesses  an  interesting  relic  of  Revolu- 
tionary times,  in  the  shape  of  an  old  chestnut  stump  which  stands 
thirty  feet  high.  In  its  prime,  the  tree  reached  a  height  of  about 
fifty-five  feet.  At  its  base,  the  stump  measures  nineteen  feet,  eight 
inches  in  circumference,  an  important  item  considering  its  part  in 
history. 

The  chestnut  was  owned  by  a  Tory  who  was  known  to  be  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  American  cause.  The  Whigs,  coming  to  arrest  him, 
one  day,  were  unable  to  find  any  trace  of  his  whereabouts,  when  sud- 
denly their  search  was  rewarded  in  a  most  unexpected  fashion.  His 
pet  calf,  who  was  noted  for  following  its  master  everywhere,  was 
seen  to  station  itself  beneath  the  tree,  and  began  bleating  loudly.  Its 
master,  hidden  in  the  hollow  trunk,  was  quickly  seized  and  made 
prisoner.  What  became  of  his  pet,  the  innocent  cause  of  his  capture, 
has  not  been  recorded. 

THE  CEDARCROFT  CHESTNUT 

"When  I  build  a  house,"  Bayard  Taylor,  the  well  known  author, 
said  in  his  youth,  "I  shall  build  it  upon  the  ridge,  with  a  high  steeple 
from  the  top  of  which  I  can  see  far  and  wide."  Cedarcroft,  the  home 
that  he  did  construct,  later  in  life,  at  Kennet  Square,  Penn.,  not  only 
fulfilled  this  requirement,  but  was  also  happy  in  a  wealth  of  fine 
old  trees,  both  cedars  and  mighty  forest  trees  of  various  sorts.  Taylor 
used  to  say  that  not  even  the  oaks  of  Charlecote  Park,  where  young 
Shakespeare  occasionally  trespassed,  could  equal  the  trees  of 
Cedarcroft. 

One  in  particular,  a  splendid  old  chestnut,  was  a  favorite  rendez- 
vous for  himself  and  his  literary  friends.  Sidney  Lanier,  the  poet,  a 
welcome  visitor  at  Taylor's  home,  and  an  evident  lover  of  nature,  was 
much  attached  to  the  ancient  tree,  and  immortalized  it  as  a  valued 
companion,  in  his  graceful  poem,  "Under  the  Cedarcroft  Chestnut." 

"A  Presence  large,  a  grave  and  steadfast  form 
Amid  the  leaves'  light  play  and  fantasy, 
A  calmness  conquered  cut  of  many  a  storm, 
A  Manhood  mastered  by  a  chestnut  tree! 

87 


Then,  while  his  monarch  fingers  downward  held 
Then  rugged  burrs  wherewith  his  state  was  rife, 
A  voice  of  large,  authoritative  Eld 
Seemed  uttering  quickly  parables  of  life: 

How  Life  in  truth  was  sharply  set  with  ills; 
A  kernel  cased  in  quarrels  yea,  a  sphere 
Of  stings,  and  hedge-hog-round  of  mortal  quills. 
How  most  men  itched  to  eat  too  soon  i'  the  year, 

And  took  but  wounds  and  worries  for  their  pains, 
Whereas  the  wise  withheld  their  patient  hands, 
Nor  plucked  green  pleasures  till  the  suns  and  rains 
And  seasonable  ripenings  burst  all  bands. 

And  opened  wide  the  liberal  burrs  of  life, 
There,  O  my  friend,  beneath  the  chestnut  bough, 
Gazing  on  thee  immerged  in  modern  strife, 
I  framed  a  prayer  of  fervency  that  thou, 

In  soul  and  stature  larger  than  thy  kind, 

Still  more  to  this  strong  form  might'st  liken  thee 

Till  thy  whole  Self  in  every  fibre  find 

The  tranquil  lordship  of  thy  chestnut  tree." 

INDIAN  TRAILS  AND  TRAIL  TREES 

Long  before  the  first  white  settlers  had  found  their  way  to  North 
America,  the  native  Indians  had  covered  the  continent  with  a  network 
of  highways  or  ^trails  over  which  they  traveled  great  distances  with 
incredible  swiftness. 

The  Santa  Fe  and  Oregon  trails  were  much  used  routes,  both 
starting  at  Independence,  Mo.,  and  terminating,  one  in  New  JVlexico, 
the  other  near  the  Willamette  River,  Ore.  Another  trail  led  from 
Montreal,  Canada,  down  the  Ottawa  River  to  Lake  Huron  and 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  and  still  another  ran  in  a  different  direction  from 
Montreal  through  Lake  Champlain  into  Lake  George,  and  connected 
by  a  portage  with  the  Hudson  River  in  New  York  State. 

Albany  on  the  Hudson  was  connected  by  a  trail  with  Rochester 
and  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  on  the  Great  Lakes.  A  trail  known  as  the 
"trading  path"  began  at  Richmond,  Va.,  and  the  famous  "Warriors' 
Path"  linked  Cumberland  Gap,  on  the  borders  of  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky  with  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  River,  in  Ohio.  Another 
trail  running  from  Philadelphia  to  Kentucky  by  Cumberland  Gap 
extended  nearly  eight  hundred  miles. 

As  the  Indians  were  accustomed  to  marching  in  single  file,  their 
roads  were  narrow,  those  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country  rarely 
exceeding  eighteen  inches  in  width.  After  the  coming  of  the  white 
men,  the  trails  were  constantly  traveled  by  them  as  well  as  by  the 
Indian  traders,  hunters  and  war-parties,  since  it  was  easier  to  follow 
already  beaten  tracks  than  to  blaze  their  own.  It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  most  of  the  railroads  in  New  York  State,  as  probably  elsewhere, 
follow  pretty  nearly  the  route  of  the  old  trails. 

The  Indians  are  said  to  have  marked  their  trails  by  certain  signs 
either  natural  or  artificial  for  the  sake  of  convenience. 

88 


There  is  a  tradition  in  the  Alleghenies  of  Pennsylvania,  that  slabs 
of  rock  which  have  been  found  in  an  upright  position,  were  used  to 
mark  trails  there.  In  other  localities,  it  is  thought  that  the  various 
trees  whose  limbs  appear  to  have  been  forced  into  abnormal  positions 
in  such  a  way  as  to  attract  attention,  were  intended  by  the  red  men  to 
serve  as  guide  posts  along  their  narrow  and  often  tortuous  ways. 

A  good  example  of  these  "Indian  Trail  Trees"  as  they  are  called, 
is  the  tall  hickory  at  Madison,  Wis.,  (on  Cover)  on  the  route  of  an  old 
trail,  one  of  whose  branches  is  conspicuously  bent  into  a  horizontal 
position  as  if  to  indicate  a  certain  direction.  Another  trail  tree  at 
County  Line,  Glencoe,  111.,  by  the  side  of  the  railroad,  has  an  odd 
appearance;  perhaps  fifteen  feet  above  ground  level  its  trunk  is  bent 
downward  to  the  earth  and  then  upward  again,  forming  a  sharp  elbow, 
a  few  feet  above  which  it  forks  and  then  continues  up,  its  leafy 
branches  rising  to  a  good  height.  Whether  intentionally  bent  into  this 
position  or  owing  it  to  a  freak  of  nature,  such  a  tree  would  of  course 
constitute  a  guide-post  not  easily  overlooked  or  forgotten. 

"There  are  at  various  places  along  the  North  Shore  (of  Lake 
Michigan)  and  following  closely  the  line  of  several  of  the  old  Indian 
trails  some  curious  trees  that  apparently  have  been  broken,  or  rather 
bent  and  tied  down  with  saplings  by  Indians  to  mark  these  trails," 
says  Frank  E.  Grover  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.  "That  cus- 
tom has  been  followed  in  other  localities,  among  which,  it  is  said,  is 
the  Braddock  Trail,  several  localities  near  Fox  Lake,  111.,  also  in  the 
vicinity  of  Mackinac,  Mich.,  and  it  is  entirely  probably  here.  The 
trees  are  invariably  large  and,  if  this  convenient  and  plausible  theory 
is  correct,  some  of  this  work  of  so  marking  the  trails  must  have  been 
done  a  century  and  more  ago,  for  many  of  the  trees  are  white  oaks  of 
considerable  size.  These  trees  and  this  theory  present  also  a  most 
interesting  field  for  inquiry  and  speculation. 

"But  some  six  years  ago,  there  were  eleven  of  these  trees  in  per- 
fect alignment,  leading  from  the  site  of  the  old  Indian  village  at  High- 
land Park,  111.,  in  a  northwesterly  direction  for  several  miles,  most  of 
them  are  still  standing  and  can  be  easily  identified,  and  what  is  partic- 
ularly of  interest  is  the  fact  that  all  of  these  trees  are  white  oaks,  while 
another  line  of  similar  trees  supposed  to  mark  another  old  trail  farther 
to  the  south,  near  Willamette,  111.,  are  without  exception,  white  elms, 
indicating  system  in  the  selection.  These  in  the  City  of  Evanston,  111., 
were  oaks  and  supposed  by  the  supporters  of  this  theory  to  lead  to  the 
chipping  stations  or  shops  on  the  lake  shore.  Two  or  three  of  these 
trees  were  also  located  on  the  North  branch  of  the  Chicago  River,  111., 
near  the  Glen  View  Golf  Club,  probably  marking  the  trail  to  one  of 
the  nearby  villages.  Another  circumstance  that  gives  color  to  this 
contention  is  that  where  those  trees  were  found  was  once  a  dense  and 
heavy  forest,  where  it  is  probable  that  an  Indian  trail  would  be 
marked,  if  marked  at  all." 

89 


CHAPTER  XVII 

The  old  Mulberry  of  St.  Mary's — The  Harris  Mulberry — Some  Early 
Attempts  at  Silk  Culture — Mulberries  of  Mt.  Fernon — Mulberry 
Farm — Mulberries  of  McSherrystown. 

THE  OLD  MULBERRY  OF  ST.  MARY'S 

In  February,  1634,  two  ships,  the  Ark  and  the  Dove,  carrying 
English  colonists,  anchored  in  the  Potomac  River  at  an  island  about 
half  a  mile  from  the  Maryland  shore. 

Delighted  at  the  wooded  bluffs  and  green  islands  they  had  passed, 
the  passengers  had  amused  themselves  by  giving  names  to  the  various 
points  as  it  pleased  their  fancy,  and  called  the  island  where  they  now 
landed,  St.  Clement's.  It  is  known  today  as  Blakiston's  Island. 

Leonard  Calvert,  leader  of  the  expedition,  continued  his  journey 
farther  up  the  beautiful  river,  in  order  to  interview  the  chiefs  of  the 
various  tribes  and  satisfy  them  that  his  intentions  were  friendly. 
Happily  for  all  concerned,  he  met  a  fur-trader,  Captain  Henry  Fleet, 
whose  intimate  knowledge  of  the  surrounding  country  served  the 
strangers  well.  As  they  objected  to  settling  far  from  the  sea,  he 
guided  them  to  a  smaller  river  flowing  into  the  Potomac,  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  St.  George's,  calling  one  of  the  two  harbors  formed 
at  its  mouth,  Saint  Mary's,  by  which  name  the  little  river  became 
known  later. 

Following  the  smaller  stream,  they  landed  at  a  bluff,  and  half  a 
mile  farther  inland,  Captain  Fleet  introduced  them  to  his  friends  of  the 
Indian  village  of  Yaocomico. 

On  the  bluff,  overlooking  the  water,  its  great  size  causing  it  to  be 
visible  for  a  considerable  distance  up  and  down  the  river,  was  the 
immense  tree  afterward  known  as  the  Old  Mulberry,  a  landmark  in- 
timately associated  with  the  history  of  the  colonists  of  the  little  town 
of  St.  Mary's,  the  first  capital  of  Maryland. 

"Well  authenticated  tradition," — which  is  closely  akin  to  actual 
history — tells  us  that  under  the  mulberry's  shade,  Calvert  made  a 
treaty  with  the  Yaocomicos,  exchanging  with  them  "mutual  promises 
to  each  other  to  live  friendly  and  peacably  together,  and  if  any  injury 
should  happen  to  be  done  on  either  part,  that  satisfaction  should  be 
made  for  the  same."  And  the  compact  was  faithfully  kept,  all  work- 
ing happily  together,  busily  planting  and  building,  the  whites  sharing 
the  redmen's  village,  and  eventually  purchasing  the  land  from  them. 
As  raids  by  the  powerful  Susquehannocks  were  becoming  very  trou- 
blesome, the  Indians  consented  readily  to  this  arrangement,  and 
willingly  moved  to  other  quarters.  Almost  immediately,  the  political 
history  of  the  little  State  began.  The  First  General  Assembly  of 

90 


MULBERRY  WALK 

Planted  by  Count  Du  Barry.      Courtesy  of  Mrs.  Frederick  Winslow  Taylor. 


Sections  of  box  planted  by"  Count  Du  Barry,  and  buildings  erected  by  Kim 
for  boiling  cocoons.      Courtesy  of  Mrs.  Frederick  W.  Taylor. 


Maryland  was  convened  at  Saint  Mary's  on  February  26, 1635,  meet- 
ing, it  is  said,  under  the  Old  Mulberry.  Under  its  branches,  also,  the 
first  Mass  is  believed  to  have  been  celebrated  by  the  little  community. 
The  historic  tree  became  a  centre  of  popular  interest  in  the  village; 
on  its  trunk  were  nailed  Governor  Cal vert's  proclamations  and  those 
of  his  successors;  as  well  as  "notices  of  punishment  and  fines,  the 
inventories  of  debtors  whose  goods  were  to  be  sold  and  all  notices 
calling  for  the  public  attention."  In  comparatively  recent  years,  the 
"rude  nails"  which  had  fastened  these  documents  to  the  tree,  were 
still  to  be  seen  in  the  wood. 

About  seventy  feet  distant  from  the  tree,  the  State  House  was 
built,  and  for  sixty-one  years  the  little  capital  flourished.  Not  all 
was  harmony,  for  Lord  Baltimore  refused,  at  first,  to  approve  the 
Acts  of  the  Assembly,  holding  that  under  the  charter  of  Maryland 
he  alone  had  power  to  make  laws.  In  return,  at  their  next  session, 
the  colonists  rejected  all  his  bills  and  passed  their  own.  After  this, 
their  rights  were  not  again  questioned,  and  in  1637,  they  became  in 
reality  a  self-governing  body. 

Political  freedom  having  been  established,  religious  liberty  was 
also  guaranteed  in  the  famous  "Toleration  Act"  passed  in  1649,  which 
has  been  styled  the  "proudest  memorial  by  colonial  Maryland." 
Within  the  old  State  House,  says  Dr.  James  Walter  Thomas,  the 
historian,  were  laid  "to  a  great  extent  the  foundations  and  outlines 
of  the  present  legal,  civil  and  social  structure  of  Maryland,  and  of 
some  of  its  most  cherished  institutions." 

In  1691,  Saint  Mary's  was  placed  under  Royal  Government  and 
the  Church  of  England  established  there.  In  1694,  Anne- Arundel- 
town  or  Annapolis  was  proclaimed  State  Capital,  partly  on  the  plea 
that  Saint  Mary's  was  not  sufficiently  accessible. 

In  vain,  did  the  inhabitants  offer  to  maintain  a  coach  and  six 
horses  for  "riding  post,"  between  Saint  Mary's  and  Pawtunxet,  during 
the  sessions  of  the  Legislature.  The  history  of  the  town  was  virtually 
finished,  and  gradually  the  place  became,  indeed,  a  deserted  village. 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  in  passing,  that  the  Pawtunxet  road, 
leading  to  Annapois,  is  still  known  as  the  "Three  Notched  Road," 
due  to  the  fact  that  by  order  of  the  Assembly  of  1704,  it  as  well  as 
other  highways,  were  distinguished  by  notches  cut  in  the  trees,  and 
the  Pawtunxet  main  road  was  marked  by  three  such  cuts,  some  of 
which  are  still  visible. 

The  usefulness  of  the  Old  Mulberry  did  not  all  vanish  with  the 
fall  of  its  little  city.  It  yielded  some  of  its  wood  for  furniture  to  be 
used  in  the  Episcopal  Church  later  built  there,  and  some  for  the  mak- 
ing of  souvenirs  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  same  Church.  Living 
through  parts  of  at  least  three  centuries,  and  witnessing  some  of  the 
most  interesting  scenes  of  colonial  history  and  much  that  was  of  vast 
importance  to  future  generations  in  its  own  State,  the  veteran  Mul- 
berry fell  in  1876,  sincerely  mourned  by  many  who  had  learned  to 

91 


love  and  reverence  the  ancient  tree.  On  the  spot  where  it  cast  its 
dense  shade  for  so  long  a  period,  stands  a  handsome  monument  bear- 
ing the  following  inscription: 

"To  the  Memory  of  Leonard  Calvert 

First  Governor  of  Maryland, 

This  Monument  is 

Erected  by 

THE  STATE  OF  MARYLAND. 
ERECTED  ON  THE  SITE  OF  THE 
OLD  MULBERRY  TREE 

Under  which  the  First  Colonists  of  Maryland  assembled 
To  Establish  a  Government  where  the  persecuted  and 
oppressed  of  every  creed  and  every  clime  might  repose  in 
peace  and  security,  adore  their  common  God,  and  enjoy 
the  priceless  blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

Leonard  Calvert 
Second  Son  of  George  Calvert 

and  Anne,  His  Wife, 

Led  the  First  Colonists  to  Maryland 

November  22,  1633-March  3,  1634 — Founded  Saint  Mary's 

March  27,  1634." 

THE  HARRIS  MULBERRY 

Until  1884,  when  it  was  uprooted  by  a  flood,  a  mulberry  tree 
sacred  to  the  memory  of  John  Harris,  founder  of  Harrisburg,  Penn., 
stood  at  the  foot  of  Washington  Street,  in  that  city. 

Harris  was  one  of  the  emigrants  who  came  to  this  country  with 
William  Penn,  possessing  at  that  time  sixteen  guineas  as  his  entire 
capital.  Settling  in  Philadelphia,  he  began  work  as  a  contractor, 
cleaning  the  streets  of  stumps  and  opening  new  thoroughfares. 

Opening  trade  with  the  Indians,  he  traveled  as  far  as  the  present 
site  of  Harrisburg,  and  began  a  settlement  there  about  1719. 

It  happened,  one  day,  that  a  number  of  Indians  stopped  at 
the  Harris  home,  most  of  the  party  being  under  the  influence  of  liquor, 
and  demanded  more  rum.  Upon  Mr.  Harris'  refusal,  they  bound  him 
to  the  mulberry  tree  and  warned  him  to  prepare  for  death.  Piling  dry 
wood  at  his  feet,  they  were  about  to  apply  a  torch,  when  Hercules,  his 
negro  slave,  summoned  a  band  of  friendly  Indians  to  the  rescue. 
Harris*  life  was  saved,  and  as  an  expression  of  gratitude  he  gave 
Hercules  his  freedom. 

In  later  years,  an  inscription  commemorating  Harris'  narrow 
escape  was  placed  upon  the  tree. 

92 


SOME  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  AT  SILK  CULTURE 

The  establishment  of  the  silk  industry  in  America  was  urged 
early  in  the  history  of  the  colonies,  mulberry  trees  being  plentiful  and 
furnishing  a  ready  supply  of  food  for  silk  worms. 

In  1725,  James  Logan,  William  Penn's  secretary,  wrote  to  the 
Penn  family,  speaking  of  the  culture  of  silk  in  America  "as  extremely 
beneficial  and  promising."  In  1734,  Governor  Gordon,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, addressing  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  Trade,  on  various  sub- 
jects, spoke  of  the  good  returns  that  might  be  expected  from  silk 
culture,  mulberry  trees  being  native  to  American  soil. 

The  year  1770  saw  the  subject  taken  up  in  Philadelphia,  Penn., 
and  the  surrounding  country,  with  great  interest.  For  this  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  (Philadelphia)  was  largely  respons- 
ible, influenced,  of  course,  by  letters  from  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin 
who  was  at  that  time  abroad. 

Application  was  made  to  the  Colonial  Assembly  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  "public  filature  at  Philadelphia  for  winding  cocoons, 
and  the  managers  to  have  power  to  grant  premiums,  etc.,  equal  to 
about  £500  per  annum  for  five  years."  Necessary  funds  were  raised 
by  private  subscription,  Governor  John  Penn  being  one  of  the  donors. 
In  June,  1770,  the  factory  was  opened  at  a  house  in  7th  Street, 
between  Arch  and  High.  The  following  year,  about  twenty-three 
hundred  pounds  of  silk  was  brought  there  to  reel. 

Many  mulberry  trees  were  now  planted  in  New  Jersey  and 
around  Philadelphia.  Women  devoted  much  of  their  time  to  the 
industry,  as  the  war  had  cut  off  the  usual  importation  of  silks. 

In  1770,  "the  celebrated  Susanna  Wright,"  of  Columbia,  Lan- 
caster County,  Penn.,  made  a  piece  of  silk  from  her  own  cocoons, 
sixty  yards  long,  and  also  much  sewing  silk.  Two  years  later,  Robert 
Proud,  the  historian,  visiting  her  home,  saw  fifteen  hundred  silk- 
worms at  work,  under  her  charge.  She  thought  it  quite  possible  to 
raise  a  million  worms  in  one  season. 

MULBERRIES  OF  MT.  VERNON 

Probably  with  the  intention  of  furnishing  food  for  silk-worms, 
and  producing  silk,  George  Washington  in  March,  1765,  grafted 
"fifteen  English  Mulberries  on  wild  mulberry  stocks"  on  the  grounds 
of  his  home  at  Mt.  Vernon,  Va.  As  Professor  Sargent  observes, 
"there  is  no  English  Mulberry,  and  his  scions  may  have  been  from  a 
Black  or  a  White  Mulberry,  the  Chinese  tree  which  furnishes  the 
principal  food  "for  silk-worms." 

In  1785,  Washington  "planted  all  the  Mulberry  trees,  Maple 
trees  and  Black  Gums  in  Serpentine  Walk."  A  White  Mulberry, 
sixty  feet  tall,  with  a  circumference  of  three  feet,  three  inches,  is  the 
only  one  remaining  in  this  area.  In  all  likelihood,  it  is  one  of  those 
planted  by  the  Father  of  his  Country. 

93 


MULBERRY  FARM 

• 

"Boxly,"  the  beautiful  estate  owned  by  Frederick  Winslow 
Taylor,  at  Highland  Station,  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  was  known,  over 
a  century  ago,  as  Mulberry  Farm. 

In  1803,  the  Count  Du  Barry,  a  friend  of  Joseph  Bonaparte, 
(brother  of  Napoleon),  purchased  the  property,  which  even  then 
possessed  historic  interest,  having  been  given  by  William  Penn,  In 
1863,  to  Francis  Daniel  Pastorius,  the  founder  of  Germantown,  Penn. 
Du  Barry  was  ail  enthusiast  both  in  landscape  gardening  and  silk 
culture.  He  laid  out  the  grounds  of  Mulberry  Farm  in  imitation  of 
the  gardens  at  Versailles,  France,  with  statuary,  arbors,  rare  shrubs 
and  flowers.  The  wonderful  rows  of  boxwood,  covering  an  area  of  six 
hundred  feet,  and  still  in  a  flourishing  condition,  are  of  his  planting. 
The  apple  trees,  French  russets,  brought  from  his  own  country,  are 
standing  today;  and  as  their  lack  of  vitality  is  becoming  apparent, 
they  are  to  be  grafted  upon  young  trees. 

Hopeful  for  the  success  of  the  silk  industry  on  his  premises,  Du 
Barry  planted  the  necessary  trees,  his  Mulberry  Walk  surviving  to 
our  own  time  as  one  of  the  features  of  the  place.  Two  of  the  tiny 
houses  erected  by  him  for  the  purpose  of  boiling  the  cocoons,  still 
remain,  and  between  them  is  the  old  greenhouse,  the  front  of  which 
he  covered  with  French  roses.  But  like  other  efforts  at  silk-raising 
in  the  New  World,  his  venture  was  doomed  to  failure,  possibly  on 
account  of  unfavorable  conditions  of  climate. 

MULBERRIES  OF  MCSHERRYSTOWN 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  interest  in  silk-culture  in 
America  had  a  brief  revival.  In  Connecticut,  several  communities 
engaged  in  this  business,  and  on  Frankford  Road,  near  Philadelphia, 
Penn.,  a  Dutch  family  conducted  it  on  a  large  scale. 

A  handsome  avenue  of  mulberry  trees  leading  to  St.  Joseph's 
Academy  at  McSherrystown,  Penn.,  remains  to  tell  the  tale  of  similar 
endeavor.  About  1850,  they  were  planted  there,  by  the  Ladies  of 
the  Sacred  Heart,  the  Sisterhood  in  charge.  The  trees  flourished,  but 
as  often  happens  in  the  case  of  experiments,  "the  patients  died,"  the 
silk-worms  that  had  been  imported  to  feed  upon  their  foliage,  refusing 
to  thrive. 

But  though  failing  to  fulfill  their  intended  mission,  the  mulberries 
with  their  grateful  shade,  have  for  many  a  year  added  beauty  and 
charm  to  the  old  convent  garden.  And  in  their  early  youth,  these 
trees  witnessed  stirring  scenes.  McSherrystpwn  is  practically  on  the 
boundry  between  the  North  and  South,  and  during  the  days  of  the 
Civil  War,  soldiers  passed  through  the  little  town  on  their  way  to 
Gettysburg,  Penn. 

Pupils  at  the  convent  watched  them  straggling  by,  ragged  and 
footsore,  and  offered  the  men  their  own  supper,  eagerly  handing  it 

94 


over  the  wooden  paling.  Next  day,  the  Sisters'  only  horse  was  com- 
mandeered. At  the  protest  of  a  neighbor's  boy,  an  officier  ordered  the 
animal  returned  to  them,  and  for  safe  keeping,  the  horse  was  stabled 
in  the  convent  kitchen.  A  few  days  later,  he  was  the  only  horse  avail- 
able in  the  whole  town  to  carry  water  to  the  wounded  and  dying  on 
the  field  of  Gettysburg. 


95 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Stuyvesant  Pear— The  Endicott  Pear— The  Old  French  Pear 
Trees  of  Detroit— The  Petre  Pear— The  SecJcel  Pear— Gavel 
Made  From  Historic  Trees — The  Traveling  Nursery. 

THE  STUYVESANT  PEAR 

In  1644,  Governor  Peter  Stuyesant,  of  New  York,  planted  a 
pear  tree  upon  the  grounds  of  his'country  home,  as  a  token  "by  which 
his  name  might  still  be  remembered";  the  first  instance  on  record  in 
American  history,  of  the  planting  of  a  memorial  tree. 

The  Governor's  desire  has  been  fulfilled,  for  his  pear  tree,  as  well 
as  his  name,  has  become  immortal  in  the  chronicles  of  both  the  city  and 
State  of  New  York.  The  spot  where  the  tree  stood,  (the  northeast 
corner  of  Third  Avenue  and  13th  Street,  New  York)  was  rapidly 
included  in  the  growing  city,  and  for  two  hundred  years  the  old  pear 
tree  was  a  well  known  landmark.  A  section  of  its  trunk  is  on  exhibi- 
tion at  the  rooms  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  and  a  part  of 
one  of  its  limbs  is  preserved  at  City  Hall.  A  shoot  from  the  old  pear 
was  grafted  upon  a  tree  at  the  Ryder  Farm  at  Ossining,  N.  Y. 

THE  ENDICOTT  PEAR 

Still  bearing  plentifully  "more  fruit  than  the  whole  town  can 
eat,"  the  Endicott  Pear  tree  at  Danversport,  Mass.,  is  nearing  the 
completion  of  its  third  century. 

Authorities  differ  as  to  the  exact  time  of  its  planting,  which 
however,  probably  occurred  about  1630,  during  the  period  when  Gov- 
ernor Endicott,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  Bay  State,  was 
importing  a  large  number  of  trees  to  beautify  his  home  grounds. 
James  Raymond  Simmons  tells  us  that  "there  is  not  much  left  of 
beauty  .  .  .  about  the  venerable  tree  which  still  maintains  its  layer 
of  living  bark  from  year  to  year,  around  a  hollow  trunk,  and  still  drops 
down  its  golden  fruit  into  the  laps  of  Endicott's  grateful  descendants 
and  admirers.  .  .  .  Soil  has  gradually  collected  about  the  trunk  until 
the  two  main  branches  appear  to  rise  from  the  ground  as  separate 
trees.  They  evidently  join  under  a  heavy  covering  of  sod  ...  it  is 
one  of  the  most  quaint  and  strangely  impressive  of  all  the  historic 
trees." 

THE  OLD  FRENCH  PEAR  TREES  OF  DETROIT 

In  Water  Works  Park,  Detroit,  Mich.,  stands  an  ancient  pear 
tree,  whose  age  is  estimated  to  be  at  least  two  hundred  years.  It  is 
the  sole  survivor  of  a  farm,  owned  by  a  Frenchman  who  named  the 
twelve  "mission  pears"  on  his  land  after  the  twelve  apostles. 

96 


Not  ordinary  pear  trees,  these,  or  the  others  of  the  neighborhood, 
or  their  descendants,  in  any  sense  of  the  word;  whether  in  point  of 
size,  quality  of  fruit  produced,  or  reputed  origin.  Supposed  to  have  been 
brought  there  by  the  early  settlers,  from  Montreal,  whether  they  had 
been  imported  from  Normandy  or  Provence,  they  have  been  described 
as  "the  crowning  glory"  of  the  French- American  orchard  which  was 
justly  famed  for  more  than  one  kind  of  superior  fruit.  Nearly  every 
home  possessed  a  pear  tree.  "Such  was  its  size  and  productiveness 
that  one  specimen  usually  amply  supplied  the  wants  of  a  family." 
Strangely  enough,  the  pears  refused  to  grow,  it  is  said,  anywhere  but 
in  the  region  of  Detroit  and  one  other  locality.  In  1786,  Colonel 
Francis  Navarre,  of  Monroe,  planted  half  a  dozen  or  more  on  his  farm 
on  the  Raisin  River,  where  they  flourished.  One  was  noted  for  attain- 
ing a  circumference  of  nine  feet,  two  inches,  and  at  four  feet  above 
the  ground  its  trunk  forked,  one  branch  growing  to  a  circumference 
of  seven  feet,  four  inches,  and  the  other,  five  feet. 

The  old  French  pear  trees  were  still  conspicuous  on  the  bank  of 
the  Detroit  River,  in  1887,  when  Bela  Hubbard  described  some  of 
them  as  eight  or  nine  feet  in  girth,  and  eighty  feet  tall,  prophesying, 
however,  that  their  time  was  short,  and  that  they  would  perish  along 
with  their  old  homesteads  "which  are  so  fast  disappearing.  Another 
half  century  will  see  the  last  of  those  magnificent  trees — the  pride  of 
the  French  orchard;  the  mammoth  of  fruits,  of  which  the  world  does 
not  afford  its  equal." 

The  veteran  tree  in  Water  Works  Park  still  yields  thirty  to  fifty 
bushels  of  fine  pears  annually.  It  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high, 
and  measures  four  feet  around  the  trunk.  Seedlings  from  it  refuse 
to  grow,  and  this  "gnarled  remnant"  of  a  proud  race  bids  fair  to 
leave  no  successor  to  its  former  glory. 

There  is  a  quaint  legend  concerning  the  origin  of  the  trees,  which 
tells  how  their  career  began  in  the  garden  of  an  early  Jesuit  Mission, 
near  the  site  of  Detroit.  The  old  priest  sat  looking  out  over  the  blue 
waters  of  the  river,  wondering  why  assistance  was  not  sent  to  him  in 
his  arduous  labors,  in  response  to  his  earnest  request.  Lifting  his 
eyes,  he  saw  a  young  stranger  approaching,  a  Frenchman,  bringing 
with  him  a  letter  from  the  Superior  of  the  Order.  It  contained  a 
brief  history  of  the  young  foreigner,  who  had  fallen  hopelessly  in  love 
with  one  of  his  countrywomen.  She  was  unhappily  married,  and  in 
retaliation  for  her  lover's  attentions,  was  murdered  by  her  husband. 
Heart-broken,  the  former  was  seeking  some  means  of  forgetting  his 
grief.  "Put  him  to  work,"  urged  the  letter,  "and  work  him  as  hard 
as  you  will,  or  his  life  will  be  wasted." 

The  Father  complied,  and  found  the  newcomer  a  valuable  assis- 
tant, eager  to  fulfill  all  his  duties.  Often,  however,  at  sunset,  he  would 
stand  alone,  looking  wistfully  over  the  river,  and  fondling  a  withered 
pear-blossom  which  he  had  brought  from  his  home-land. 

97 


Watching  him  long  and  thoughtfully,  the  old  priest  sought  for 
the  right  word  to  speak,  and  at  length  suggested  that  he  should  plant 
the  seeds  hidden  in  the  faded  flower,  and  let  them  bring  forth  rich 
fruit  for  the  good  of  the  community,  and  thus  do  what  was  in  his 
power  to  atone  for  his  "unblest  affection." 

*"In  thy  withered  pear  lies  dormant 
Nature's  power  to  bloom  and  bless 
This  unfruitful  wilderness. 
Here  is  healing  for  thy  torment! 
Many  and  many  a  voice  of  prayer 
Long  may  bless  thy  withered  pear. 

Thus,  like  souls  redeemed  from  sin, 
Did  the  mission  pears  begin 
In  the  ancient  Jesuit  garden; 
And  the  shoots,  as  they  ascended, 
Prayerfully  were  watched  and  tended 
Till  the  wood  could  grow  and  harden, 
Often,  in  their  early  years, 
Watered  by  repentant  tears." 

THE  PETRE  PEAR 

In  Bartram's  Garden,  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  a  small,  gnarled  pear 
tree  perpetuates  the  memory  of  Lady  Petre,  of  England,  who,  in 
1760,  sent  it  across  seas  to  the  famous  botanist.  It  was  planted  close 
by  the  quaint  old  house  on  the  Schuylkill,  that  during  his  life-time  was 
a  centre  of  hospitality,  and  where  noted  men  were  often  entertained. 
Owing  to  the  generosity  of  Lord  Peter,  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and 
Peter  Collinson,  who  justly  subscribed  a  fund  for  the  purpose,  Bartram 
was  able  to  continue  the  expeditions  which  he  had  begun  in  order  to 
collect  and  classify  the  plants  of  the  New  World,  returning  to  the 
donors  the  equivalent  in  roots  and  seeds. 

THE  SECKEL  PEAR 

The  original  Seckel  pear  tree  grew  on  a  strip  of  land  called  The 
Neck,  five  miles  south  of  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  on  the  property  of 
Lawrence  Seckel,  a  prominent  wine  merchant  of  the  city.  The  place, 
which  was  his  country  seat,  was  later  owned  by  the  well  known  citizen, 
Stephen  Girard.  It  was  near  Wilton,  a  famous  watering-place  prior 
to  the  Revolution. 

In  1819,  Dr.  Hosack  sent  some  of  the  small  "spicy  and  honeyed" 
fruit  to  the  London  Horticultural  Society,  which  rated  them  as 
"exceeding  in  flavor  the  richest  of  the  autumn  pears."  The  doctor 
stated  that  this  unique  tree  had  first  become  known  in  Philadelphia 
about  seventy  years  before. 

Where  the  tree  came  from,  no  one  knew,  not  even  Mr.  Seckel 
himself.  About  the  middle  of  the  18th  Century  the  Swedes,  Dutch 
and  Germans  imported  a  great  number  of  trees,  shrubs  and  flowers 
from  the  Old  World,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the  far-famed  Seckel 
pear  had  found  its  entrance  into  the  country  in  this  way. 

*  From  poem  by  J.  L.  Bates. 

98 


The  site  where  the  Seckel  home  once  stood  is  now  "a  region  given 
over  to  the  growth  of  plethoric  cabbages,  endless  tomatoes,  and  onions 
infinite."  Near  the  old  farm-house  is  a  white  post  which  marks  the 
location  of  the  Seckel  pear,  the  tree  itself  having  succumbed  to  a 
wind-storm  in  1905  v  A  shoot  from  it  was  grafted  upon  a  tree  nearer 
the  house. 

GAVEL  MADE  FROM  HISTORIC  TREES 

The  fashioning  from  historic  wood,  of  a  gavel,  presented  to  the 
Fifth  Pacific  Coast  Congress  of  Congregational  Churches,  held  in 
Portland,  Ore.,  in  1911,  has  brought  to  light  some  interesting  facts  in 
connection  with  the  material,  used.  I$ach  piece  of  wood  in  the  gavel 
was  numbered  to  correspond  with  a  printed  list  of  descriptions.  Two 
of  the  sections  were  taken  from  fruit  trees,  an  apple  and  a  cherry, 
representing  events  in  the  history  of  the  early  settlements  of  the  great 
North  West. 

One  of  these  was  from  a  seedling  apple,  a  tree  which  grew  neai 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  Fort,  Vancouver,  now  Vancouver, 
Wash.,  from  seed  brought  from  London  to  that  place  in  1825.  Mrs. 
Narcissa  Prentiss  Whitman,  one  of  the  two  first  American  women  to 
cross  the  plains  to  Oregon,  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  on  September 
12,  1836,  and  her  husband,  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman,  and  her  traveling 
companions — Rev.  Henry  H.  Spalding,  Mrs.  Eliza  Hart  Spalding 
and  William  H.  Gray — were  entertained  by  Dr.  John  McLoughlin, 
Chief  Factor  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Mrs.  Whitman,  in  her 
diary  under  the  date  above  mentioned,  made  the  following  entry: 

"What  a  delightful  place  this  is;  what  a  contrast  to  the  rough, 
barren  sand  plains  through  which  we  have  so  recently  passed.  Here 
we  find  fruit  of  every  description — apples,  peaches,  grapes,  pears, 
plums  and  fig  trees  in  abundance ;  also  cucumbers,  melons,  beans,  peas, 
beets,  cabbage,  tomatoes,  and  every  kind  of  vegetable,  too  numerous 
to  be  mentioned.  Every  part  is  very  neat  and  tastefully  arranged, 
with  fine  walks,  lined  on  each  side  with  strawberry  vines.  At  the 
opposite  end  of  the  garden  is  a  good  summer  house  covered  with  grape 
vines.  Here  I  must  mention  the  origin  of  these  grapes  and  apples. 
A  gentleman,  twelve  years  ago,  while  at  a  party  in  London,  put  seeds 
of  the  grapes  and  apples  which  he  ate  into  his  vest  pocket ;  soon  af ter- 
wards  he  took  a  voyage  to  this  country  and  left  them  here,  and  now 
they  are  greatly  multiplied." 

THE  TRAVELING  NURSERY 

The  piece  of  cherry  wood  used  in  the  gavel  is  of  the  variety  known 
as  the  Royal  Ann,  and  acquaintance  with  it  opens  up  a  little  known 
page  in  the  development  of  the  western  fruit  industry.  The  Royal 
Ann,  in  company  with  seven  hundred  other  fruit  trees,  belonged  to 
the  Traveling  Nursery,  which  was  brought  across  the  plains  in  1847, 
by  Henderson  Lewelling,  of  Salem,  Henry  County,  Iowa. 

99 


Though  repeatedly  warned  that  his  undertaking  was  hopeless, 
Lewelling  persisted  in  his  cherished  scheme  of  establishing  a  nursery 
in  the  "densely  wooded  North  West,"  many  leading  varieties  of  apples 
and  pears,  some  plums  and  cherries,  one  Isabella  grape  vine  and  one 
gooseberry  plant  were  among  the  trees  and  shrubs,  which  packed  in 
carefully  prepared  soil,  were  loaded  upon  his  wagon  and  ox-teams. 

Journeying  through  "dry,  thirsty  land  and  over  lofty  mountain 
ranges,"  he  reached  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  about  October  1,  1847,  with 
most  of  the  trees  alive.  There  he  established  his  first  nursery,  and 
continued  his  way  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Ralph  Geer,  another  pioneer  of  that  same  year,  says,  "That  load 
of  trees  contained  health,  wealth  and  comfort  for  the  old  pioneers  of 
Oregon.  It  was  the  mother  of  all  the  orchards  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  gave  Oregon  a  name  and  fame  that  she  never  would 
have  had  without  it.  That  load  of  living  trees  brought  more  wealth 
to  Oregon  than  any  ship  that  ever  entered  the  Columbia  River." 

Incidentally,  Lewelling  founded,  during  his  travels,  four  towns 
by  the  name  of  Salem,  in  memory  of  his  birthplace;  Salem,  N.  C., 
Salem,  O.,  Salem,  Ind.,  Salem,  Iowa,  and  Salem,  Ore.,  all  owe  their 
origin  to  him. 


100 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Johnny  Appleseed  and  His  Trees  —  Roger  Williams'  Apple  Tree. 

JOHNNY  APPLESEED  AND  His  TREES 

During  the  years  from  1806  to  1830,  John  Chapman,  familiarly 
known  as  "Johnny  Appleseed,"  one  of  the  most  unique  philan- 
thropists known  to  history,  was  engaged  in  his  self-imposed  mission  of 
planting  apple  trees  for  the  benefit  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  Ohio. 
Going  in  advance  of  civilization,  unarmed  and  unafraid,  amidst  the 
perils  of  the  wilderness,  it  was  his  ambition  to  have  the  fruit-trees 
flourishing  to  greet  the  influx  of  pioneers,  who,  but  for  his  unselfish 
thought  and  work,  would  sadly  have  missed  the  accustomed  orchards 
of  their  homeland. 

"He  began  his  apple  mission  in  Pennsylvania  in  1802  or  1803," 
says  A.  J.  Baughman,  one  of  his  historians,  "but  soon  transferred  his 
field  to  Ohio.  He  made  frequent  visits  to  the  Keystone  State  for 
apple  seeds,  and  on  his  return  selected  favorable  spots  for  his  pioneer 
nurseries.  He  sought  fertile  soil  and  sheltered  places,  and  often  made 
clearings  to  give  his  tender  shoots  protection  from  wind  and  blizzard. 
As  one  section  of  the  State  became  supplied  with  trees,  he  moved  to 
another. 


"The  early  settlers  were  too  busy  in  wresting  a  livelihood  from 
nature  and  in  fighting  Indians,  to  engage  in  the  slow  process  of  rais- 
ing apple  trees  from  seed,  and  Chapman,  full  of  faith  in  the  virtue  of 
the  fruit,  took  upon  himself  the  duty  of  supplying  the  need.  Usually 
a  man  of  few  words,  he  became  eloquent  when  speaking  of  apples,  and 
his  fine  flow  of  language  gave  the  impression  that  he  had  been  well 
educated." 

He  planted  his  first  nursery  at  Lagrange,  O.,  opposite  Wells- 
burg,  W.  V.  After  planting  others  along  the  Ohio  River,  he  con- 
tinued into  Richland  County,  where  he  made  his  home  in  a  little  cabin 
for  several  years.  "Johnny  Appleseed,"  as  he  had  been  affectionately 
christened  by  the  inhabitants,  now  had  his  hands  full. 

Planting  orchards  in  a  number  of  counties,  he  made  the  rounds, 
yearly,  traveling  hundreds  of  miles  to  prune  and  care  for  his  trees, 
which  were  generally  planted  on  or  near  streams,  and  protected  with  a 
brush  fence.  An  inestimable  blessing  they  must  have  been  to  the 
pioneers,  a  pleasant  welcome  in  the  midst  of  unfriendly  surround- 
ings. Johnny's  price  for  a  tree  was  usually,  "fip  penny-bit,"  or  he 
would  give  credit  or  accept  clothes  in  exchange. 

The  Ohio  Archaeological  and  Historical  Quarterly  has  repro- 
duced an  autograph  order  of  Chapman's  which  reads  as  follows: 

101 


"Due  John  Cheever  one  hundred  and  fifty  trees 
when  he  goes  for  them  to  some  of  my  nurseries 
on  Mohecan  waters." 

"JOHN  CHAPMAN." 

It  is  doubtful  that  any  of  "Johnny's"  trees  have  survived  to 
the  present  day,  but  to  #uote  from  General  Roeliff  BrinkerhofFs 
Mansfield,  O.,  "Within  the  sound  of  my  voice,  where  I  now  stand 
there  are  a  dozen  or  more  trees  that  we  believe  are  the  lineal 
descendants  of  Johnny  Appleseed's  nurseries.  In  fact,  this  monu- 
ment is  almost  within  the  shadow  of  three  or  four  of  them."  Rich- 
land  County  owned  all  of  its  early  orchards  to  the  nurseries  of  the 
"Apostle  of  Apples"  as  he  has  been  called.  In  the  woods,  he  sowed 
various  medical  plants. 

Johnny  was  a  welcome  guest  in  many  homes,  but  much  of  his 
time  was,  necessarily  spent  in  journeys  through  the  forest,  from  the 
site  of  one  orchard  to  another.  His  dress  was  peculiar.  He  went 
barefoot,  and  often  wore  a  coffee  sack,  with  hole  cut  for  his  head  and 
arms,  instead  of  a  coat.  He  took  with  him  a  bundle  of  cooking 
utensils,  often  wearing  his  mush-pan  for  a  hat.  Occasionally,  how- 
ever, he  wore  one  made  of  cardboard,  with  a  broad  brim.  But  no 
weapon  of  any  description  was  among  his  effects.  Neither  savage  nor 
animal  would  harm  the  gentle  horticulturist,  the  former  looking  upon 
him  as  a  great  "Medicine  Man." 

He  loved  and  reverenced  life  in  its  lowest  forms  as  well  as  in 
its  higher  manifestations,  and  it  has  been  said  that  he  "deserved  to 
be  the  patron  saint  of  the  Humane  Society,  of  which  he  was  cer- 
tainly the  earliest  forerunner."  He  purchased  any  animal  that  he 
saw  ill-treated,  any  worn  out  horses,  turned  away  to  starve,  and 
found  for  them  homes  where  they  were  kindly  cared  for.  "It  is 
further  recorded,"  says  Mr.  E.  O.  Randall,  "that  he  would  never  sell 
these  poor  and  despised  animals,  but  if  any  of  them  recovered  their 
strength  so  as  to  be  valuable,  he  would  lend  them  or  give  them  away, 
exacting  a  promise  from  the  recipient  that  the  dumb  beast  should  ever 
receive  kind  treatment." 

The  friend  of  every  living  creature,  he  was  willing  to  journey 
thirty  miles  through  the  forest  to  obtain  help  for  his  fellow  men  when 
Mansfield,  O.,  was  threatened  with  an  Indian  raid,  or  to  relinquish  a 
night's  shelter  in  a  hollow  log  rather  than  disturb  the  frightened 
squirrel  who  had  housed  her  family  inside. 

In  his  later  years,  Chapman  found  a  new  field  for  his  planting 
in  Indiana,  where  he  died,  in  1847,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  It  has 
been  said  "that  although  years  have/come  and  gone  since  his  death,  the 
memory  of  his  good  deeds  lives  anew  every  springtime  in  the  beauty 
and  fragrance  of  the  blossoms  of  the  apple  trees  he  loved  so  well. 

ROGER  WILLIAMS'  APPLE  TREE 
There  are  tall  and  stately  trees  in  Rhode  Island,  still  casting 

102 


their  welcome  shade,  that  were  saplings  in  the  days  of  Roger 
Williams,  nearly  three  hundred  years  ago;  and  tradition  credits  him 
with  planting  the  Congdon  Street  American  elm,  one  of  the  best 
known  trees  of  Providence,  though  the  story  is  not  considered 
authentic.  Strangely  enough,  it  is  an  old  apple  tree  with  which  he 
had  no  association  in  life,  that  remains  inseparably  linked  with  his 
memory. 

In  1636,  Roger  Williams,  one  of  the  most  famous  of  the  pioneers 
who  came  from  England  to  the  New  World  in  quest  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom,  settled  in  Rhode  Island.  Boston,  where  he  had 
lived  for  a  few  years,  proved  a  dangerous  place  for  a  man  of  his 
liberal  views,  which  were  little  to  the  liking  of  the  Puritans.  Chief 
among  his  offenses  was  his  refusal  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  the 
Commonwealth  either  to  punish  for  spiritual  delinquencies  or  to  bar 
everyone  except  church  members  from  voting  on  civil  affairs,  while 
at  the  same  time,  all,  irrespective  of  creed,  were  taxed  to  support  the 
church. 

He  had  already  left  Boston  for  Salem,  Mass.,  when  the  au- 
thorities pronounced  a  sentence  of  banishment  upon  him  and  sent  a 
sloop  to  take  him  back  to  England. 

Aware  of  the  fate  that  was  planned  for  him,  however,  Williams 
escaped  from  Salem  to  Narragansett  Bay,  wisely  selecting  a  place 
free  "from  any  English  claims  or  patents."  There  is  a  tradition  to 
the  effect  that,  as  he  and  his  little  party  sailed  down  Seekonk  River 
and  rounded  "Slate  Rock,"  some  friendly  Indians  called  out,  "What 
cheer,  Netop?" 

Near  the  Mooshausick  River,  he  and  his  companions  founded 
Providence,  the  first  settlement  in  Rhode  Island.  As  he  stated  in  the 
deed  drawn  in  1661,  he  "desired  it  might  be  for  a  shelter  for  persons 
distressed  in  conscience."  Everyone  who  settled  there  was  required 
to  sign  a  statement  that  he  pledged  himself  to  submit  to  its  govern- 
ment "only  in  civil  things." 

When  Roger  Williams'  noble  life-work  ended,  in  1684,  he  was 
buried  in  a  spot  selected  by  himself,  on  the  hill-side  near  his  first 
landing. 

In  after  years,  when  the  growth  of  the  town  rendered  it  neces- 
sary to  remove  the  bodies  of  the  early  settlers  interred  there,  it  was 
found  that  an  apple  tree  had  sent  its  roots  into  his  grave,  and  that 
they  had  followed  the  outline  of  the  human  form.  This  curious 
occurrence  has  been  twice  commemorated  in  verse. 

M.  E.  Buhler  speaks  of  the  great  pioneer's  character  as  follows: 

"All  that  he  had  he  used,  to  give 
That  others  might  more  freely  live — 

In  life  and  death  he  gave; 
For  when  his  valiant  soul  went  free 
Whose  passion  was  for  liberty, 
His  dust  became  an  apple  tree 

Above    his    empty    grave. 

103 


Its  roots  so  quaintly  human  form 

Had  grown  thro'  sunshine  and  thro'  storm, 

Beside  the  grassy  spring, 
And  its  great  boughs  bent  down  to  shield 
The  wayworn  pilgrim  and  to  yield 

Sweet  fruit  and   comforting." 

It  has  been  often  and  truly  said  that  there  is  only  a  step  between 
the  sublime  and  the  ridiculous,  and  the  familiar  words  are  well  illus- 
trated in  the  "skit"  by  Charles  T.  Miller,  published  in  1874,  humor- 
ously tracing  the  influence  of  Williams'  indomitable  spirit,  down 
through  the  historic  Dorr  Rebellion  into  modern  times. 

"Did  you  ever  hear  the  story  told 
Of  Roger  Williams,  the  preacher  bold, 
Who  settled    this  State  in  the  days  of  old, 
This  little  State  of  Rhode  Island? 

In  sixteen  hundred  and  thirty-six, 
Roger  Williams  got  into  a  fix, 
By  saucing  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
And  skedaddled  away  to  Rhode  Island. 

He  crossed,  as  everybody  knew, 
Seekonk   River  in  a  birch  canoe; 
Just  to  save  the  tolls  that  were  due 
On  the  bridges  above  and  below  him. 

The  college  boats  are  always  out, 

They'd  have  taken  him  over,  I  haven't  a  doubt; 

But  Roger  was  mad  and  stuffed  it  out 

And  "paddled  his  own  canoe." 

When  on  Slate  Rock  a  footing  was  found, 
The  Abby  Origenes  were   sitting  around; 
And  Roger,  thinking  he'd  like  to  sit  down, 
He  quietly  asked,  "What  cheer?" 

The  Indians  thought  it  exceedingly  cool, 

And  said,  "We  have  neither  chairs  nor  stool; 

So  sit  down  on  the  rock,  you  fussy  old  fool, 

As  all  the  rest  of  us  do." 

By  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  I've  heard  it  said, 

He  paid  his  way  and  earned  his  bread; 

And  when  he  gets  sufficiently  dead, 

They'll  put  a  monument  over  him. 

They  buried  him  carefully,  away  from  harm, 

In  a  quiet  old  orchard  on  his  own  farm, 

'Twas  right  in  back  of  Governor  Dorr's  barn, — 

And  supposed  that  he'd  keep  quiet. 

But  a  jolly  old  apple  tree  rooting  around, 

Seeking  for  phosphates  under  the  ground, 

Followed  his  back-bone  all  the  way  down, 

And  old  Mother  William's  too. 

What's  bred  in  the  bone,  in  the  flesh  will  show, 

What's  bred  in  the  root,  the  fruit  will  know; 

For  two  hundred   years   this   fruit  did   grow 

'Till  posterity  ate  him  up. 

In  'forty-two  he"  got  up  a  war 

By  having  got  into  Governor  Door, 

By  eating  the  apples,  just  as  you  saw; 

So  there  was  another  row. 

'Tis  Williams'  fault,  as  we  all  know  now, 

Apples  have  always  caused  a  row 

From  Adam's  time,  way  down  to  now; 

So  they  dug  Mr.  Williams  up. 

So  they  dug  up  the  roots  and  the  coffin  nails, 

To  be  planted  again  in  boxes  or  pails; 

And  unless  a  big  stone  monument  fails, 

This  time  they'll  keep  him  down." 

104 


AN 


'E     OF    25     CENT 
INITIAL    FINE  FA,UURE  TO 


SEP  28   194? 

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U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


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